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diff --git a/old/2dina10.txt b/old/2dina10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fb4d51 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2dina10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15114 @@ +*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Democracy In America, Volume 2* + + +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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If you notice an error, please let me know, +identifying by chapter and paragraph where the mistake occurs. + +David Reed, haradda@aol.com or davidr@inconnect.com + + + + + +Democracy In America +Alexis De Tocqueville +Translator - Henry Reeve + + + + + +Book Two + + + + + +A request to all readers: +I have tried to catch as many actual errors as I could, but I am +sure others exist. If you notice an error, please let me know, +identifying by chapter and paragraph where the mistake occurs. +David Reed, haradda@aol.com or davidr@inconnect.com + + + + + +Influence Of Democracy On Progress Of Opinion In US + +De Tocqueville's Preface To The Second Part + +The Americans live in a democratic state of society, which +has naturally suggested to them certain laws and a certain +political character. This same state of society has, moreover, +engendered amongst them a multitude of feelings and opinions +which were unknown amongst the elder aristocratic communities of +Europe: it has destroyed or modified all the relations which +before existed, and established others of a novel kind. The +aspect of civil society has been no less affected by these +changes than that of the political world. The former subject has +been treated of in the work on the Democracy of America, which I +published five years ago; to examine the latter is the object of +the present book; but these two parts complete each other, and +form one and the same work. + +I must at once warn the reader against an error which would +be extremely prejudicial to me. When he finds that I attribute +so many different consequences to the principle of equality, he +may thence infer that I consider that principle to be the sole +cause of all that takes place in the present age: but this would +be to impute to me a very narrow view. A multitude of opinions, +feelings, and propensities are now in existence, which owe their +origin to circumstances unconnected with or even contrary to the +principle of equality. Thus if I were to select the United +States as an example, I could easily prove that the nature of the +country, the origin of its inhabitants, the religion of its +founders, their acquired knowledge, and their former habits, have +exercised, and still exercise, independently of democracy, a vast +influence upon the thoughts and feelings of that people. +Different causes, but no less distinct from the circumstance of +the equality of conditions, might be traced in Europe, and would +explain a great portion of the occurrences taking place amongst +us. + +I acknowledge the existence of all these different causes, +and their power, but my subject does not lead me to treat of +them. I have not undertaken to unfold the reason of all our +inclinations and all our notions: my only object is to show in +what respects the principle of equality has modified both the +former and the latter. + +Some readers may perhaps be astonished that - firmly +persuaded as I am that the democratic revolution which we are +witnessing is an irresistible fact against which it would be +neither desirable nor wise to struggle - I should often have had +occasion in this book to address language of such severity to +those democratic communities which this revolution has brought +into being. My answer is simply, that it is because I am not an +adversary of democracy, that I have sought to speak of democracy +in all sincerity. + +Men will not accept truth at the hands of their enemies, and +truth is seldom offered to them by their friends: for this reason +I have spoken it. I was persuaded that many would take upon +themselves to announce the new blessings which the principle of +equality promises to mankind, but that few would dare to point +out from afar the dangers with which it threatens them. To those +perils therefore I have turned my chief attention, and believing +that I had discovered them clearly, I have not had the cowardice +to leave them untold. + +I trust that my readers will find in this Second Part that +impartiality which seems to have been remarked in the former +work. Placed as I am in the midst of the conflicting opinions +between which we are divided, I have endeavored to suppress +within me for a time the favorable sympathies or the adverse +emotions with which each of them inspires me. If those who read +this book can find a single sentence intended to flatter any of +the great parties which have agitated my country, or any of those +petty factions which now harass and weaken it, let such readers +raise their voices to accuse me. + +The subject I have sought to embrace is immense, for it +includes the greater part of the feelings and opinions to which +the new state of society has given birth. Such a subject is +doubtless above my strength, and in treating it I have not +succeeded in satisfying myself. But, if I have not been able to +reach the goal which I had in view, my readers will at least do +me the justice to acknowledge that I have conceived and followed +up my undertaking in a spirit not unworthy of success. + +A. De T. + +March, 1840 + +Chapter I: Philosophical Method Among the Americans + +I think that in no country in the civilized world is less +attention paid to philosophy than in the United States. The +Americans have no philosophical school of their own; and they +care but little for all the schools into which Europe is divided, +the very names of which are scarcely known to them. Nevertheless +it is easy to perceive that almost all the inhabitants of the +United States conduct their understanding in the same manner, and +govern it by the same rules; that is to say, that without ever +having taken the trouble to define the rules of a philosophical +method, they are in possession of one, common to the whole +people. To evade the bondage of system and habit, of family +maxims, class opinions, and, in some degree, of national +prejudices; to accept tradition only as a means of information, +and existing facts only as a lesson used in doing otherwise, and +doing better; to seek the reason of things for one's self, and in +one's self alone; to tend to results without being bound to +means, and to aim at the substance through the form; - such are +the principal characteristics of what I shall call the +philosophical method of the Americans. But if I go further, and +if I seek amongst these characteristics that which predominates +over and includes almost all the rest, I discover that in most of +the operations of the mind, each American appeals to the +individual exercise of his own understanding alone. America is +therefore one of the countries in the world where philosophy is +least studied, and where the precepts of Descartes are best +applied. Nor is this surprising. The Americans do not read the +works of Descartes, because their social condition deters them +from speculative studies; but they follow his maxims because this +very social condition naturally disposes their understanding to +adopt them. In the midst of the continual movement which agitates +a democratic community, the tie which unites one generation to +another is relaxed or broken; every man readily loses the trace +of the ideas of his forefathers or takes no care about them. Nor +can men living in this state of society derive their belief from +the opinions of the class to which they belong, for, so to speak, +there are no longer any classes, or those which still exist are +composed of such mobile elements, that their body can never +exercise a real control over its members. As to the influence +which the intelligence of one man has on that of another, it must +necessarily be very limited in a country where the citizens, +placed on the footing of a general similitude, are all closely +seen by each other; and where, as no signs of incontestable +greatness or superiority are perceived in any one of them, they +are constantly brought back to their own reason as the most +obvious and proximate source of truth. It is not only confidence +in this or that man which is then destroyed, but the taste for +trusting the ipse dixit of any man whatsoever. Everyone shuts +himself up in his own breast, and affects from that point to +judge the world. + +The practice which obtains amongst the Americans of fixing +the standard of their judgment in themselves alone, leads them to +other habits of mind. As they perceive that they succeed in +resolving without assistance all the little difficulties which +their practical life presents, they readily conclude that +everything in the world may be explained, and that nothing in it +transcends the limits of the understanding. Thus they fall to +denying what they cannot comprehend; which leaves them but little +faith for whatever is extraordinary, and an almost insurmountable +distaste for whatever is supernatural. As it is on their own +testimony that they are accustomed to rely, they like to discern +the object which engages their attention with extreme clearness; +they therefore strip off as much as possible all that covers it, +they rid themselves of whatever separates them from it, they +remove whatever conceals it from sight, in order to view it more +closely and in the broad light of day. This disposition of the +mind soon leads them to contemn forms, which they regard as +useless and inconvenient veils placed between them and the truth. + +The Americans then have not required to extract their +philosophical method from books; they have found it in +themselves. The same thing may be remarked in what has taken +place in Europe. This same method has only been established and +made popular in Europe in proportion as the condition of society +has become more equal, and men have grown more like each other. +Let us consider for a moment the connection of the periods in +which this change may be traced. In the sixteenth century the +Reformers subjected some of the dogmas of the ancient faith to +the scrutiny of private judgment; but they still withheld from it +the judgment of all the rest. In the seventeenth century, Bacon +in the natural sciences, and Descartes in the study of philosophy +in the strict sense of the term, abolished recognized formulas, +destroyed the empire of tradition, and overthrew the authority of +the schools. The philosophers of the eighteenth century, +generalizing at length the same principle, undertook to submit to +the private judgment of each man all the objects of his belief. + +Who does not perceive that Luther, Descartes, and Voltaire +employed the same method, and that they differed only in the +greater or less use which they professed should be made of it? +Why did the Reformers confine themselves so closely within the +circle of religious ideas? Why did Descartes, choosing only to +apply his method to certain matters, though he had made it fit to +be applied to all, declare that men might judge for themselves in +matters philosophical but not in matters political? How happened +it that in the eighteenth century those general applications were +all at once drawn from this same method, which Descartes and his +predecessors had either not perceived or had rejected? To what, +lastly, is the fact to be attributed, that at this period the +method we are speaking of suddenly emerged from the schools, to +penetrate into society and become the common standard of +intelligence; and that, after it had become popular among the +French, it has been ostensibly adopted or secretly followed by +all the nations of Europe? + +The philosophical method here designated may have been +engendered in the sixteenth century - it may have been more +accurately defined and more extensively applied in the +seventeenth; but neither in the one nor in the other could it be +commonly adopted. Political laws, the condition of society, and +the habits of mind which are derived from these causes, were as +yet opposed to it. It was discovered at a time when men were +beginning to equalize and assimilate their conditions. It could +only be generally followed in ages when those conditions had at +length become nearly equal, and men nearly alike. + +The philosophical method of the eighteenth century is then +not only French, but it is democratic; and this explains why it +was so readily admitted throughout Europe, where it has +contributed so powerfully to change the face of society. It is +not because the French have changed their former opinions, and +altered their former manners, that they have convulsed the world; +but because they were the first to generalize and bring to light +a philosophical method, by the assistance of which it became easy +to attack all that was old, and to open a path to all that was +new. + +If it be asked why, at the present day, this same method is +more rigorously followed and more frequently applied by the +French than by the Americans, although the principle of equality +be no less complete, and of more ancient date, amongst the latter +people, the fact may be attributed to two circumstances, which it +is essential to have clearly understood in the first instance. +It must never be forgotten that religion gave birth to +Anglo-American society. In the United States religion is +therefore commingled with all the habits of the nation and all +the feelings of patriotism; whence it derives a peculiar force. +To this powerful reason another of no less intensity may be +added: in American religion has, as it were, laid down its own +limits. Religious institutions have remained wholly distinct from +political institutions, so that former laws have been easily +changed whilst former belief has remained unshaken. Christianity +has therefore retained a strong hold on the public mind in +America; and, I would more particularly remark, that its sway is +not only that of a philosophical doctrine which has been adopted +upon inquiry, but of a religion which is believed without +discussion. In the United States Christian sects are infinitely +diversified and perpetually modified; but Christianity itself is +a fact so irresistibly established, that no one undertakes either +to attack or to defend it. The Americans, having admitted the +principal doctrines of the Christian religion without inquiry, +are obliged to accept in like manner a great number of moral +truths originating in it and connected with it. Hence the +activity of individual analysis is restrained within narrow +limits, and many of the most important of human opinions are +removed from the range of its influence. + +The second circumstance to which I have alluded is the +following: the social condition and the constitution of the +Americans are democratic, but they have not had a democratic +revolution. They arrived upon the soil they occupy in nearly the +condition in which we see them at the present day; and this is of +very considerable importance. + +There are no revolutions which do not shake existing belief, +enervate authority, and throw doubts over commonly received +ideas. The effect of all revolutions is therefore, more or less, +to surrender men to their own guidance, and to open to the mind +of every man a void and almost unlimited range of speculation. +When equality of conditions succeeds a protracted conflict +between the different classes of which the elder society was +composed, envy, hatred, and uncharitableness, pride, and +exaggerated self- confidence are apt to seize upon the human +heart, and plant their sway there for a time. This, +independently of equality itself, tends powerfully to divide men +- to lead them to mistrust the judgment of others, and to seek +the light of truth nowhere but in their own understandings. +Everyone then attempts to be his own sufficient guide, and makes +it his boast to form his own opinions on all subjects. Men are +no longer bound together by ideas, but by interests; and it would +seem as if human opinions were reduced to a sort of intellectual +dust, scattered on every side, unable to collect, unable to +cohere. + +Thus, that independence of mind which equality supposes to +exist, is never so great, nor ever appears so excessive, as at +the time when equality is beginning to establish itself, and in +the course of that painful labor by which it is established. +That sort of intellectual freedom which equality may give ought, +therefore, to be very carefully distinguished from the anarchy +which revolution brings. Each of these two things must be +severally considered, in order not to conceive exaggerated hopes +or fears of the future. + +I believe that the men who will live under the new forms of +society will make frequent use of their private judgment; but I +am far from thinking that they will often abuse it. This is +attributable to a cause of more general application to all +democratic countries, and which, in the long run, must needs +restrain in them the independence of individual speculation +within fixed, and sometimes narrow, limits. I shall proceed to +point out this cause in the next chapter. + +Chapter II: Of The Principal Source Of Belief Among Democratic +Nations + +At different periods dogmatical belief is more or less +abundant. It arises in different ways, and it may change its +object or its form; but under no circumstances will dogmatical +belief cease to exist, or, in other words, men will never cease +to entertain some implicit opinions without trying them by actual +discussion. If everyone undertook to form his own opinions and +to seek for truth by isolated paths struck out by himself alone, +it is not to be supposed that any considerable number of men +would ever unite in any common belief. But obviously without +such common belief no society can prosper - say rather no society +can subsist; for without ideas held in common, there is no common +action, and without common action, there may still be men, but +there is no social body. In order that society should exist, +and, a fortiori, that a society should prosper, it is required +that all the minds of the citizens should be rallied and held +together by certain predominant ideas; and this cannot be the +case, unless each of them sometimes draws his opinions from the +common source, and consents to accept certain matters of belief +at the hands of the community. + +If I now consider man in his isolated capacity, I find that +dogmatical belief is not less indispensable to him in order to +live alone, than it is to enable him to co-operate with his +fellow- creatures. If man were forced to demonstrate to himself +all the truths of which he makes daily use, his task would never +end. He would exhaust his strength in preparatory exercises, +without advancing beyond them. As, from the shortness of his +life, he has not the time, nor, from the limits of his +intelligence, the capacity, to accomplish this, he is reduced to +take upon trust a number of facts and opinions which he has not +had either the time or the power to verify himself, but which men +of greater ability have sought out, or which the world adopts. On +this groundwork he raises for himself the structure of his own +thoughts; nor is he led to proceed in this manner by choice so +much as he is constrainsd by the inflexible law of his condition. +There is no philosopher of such great parts in the world, but +that he believes a million of things on the faith of other +people, and supposes a great many more truths than he +demonstrates. This is not only necessary but desirable. A man +who should undertake to inquire into everything for himself, +could devote to each thing but little time and attention. His +task would keep his mind in perpetual unrest, which would prevent +him from penetrating to the depth of any truth, or of grappling +his mind indissolubly to any conviction. His intellect would be +at once independent and powerless. He must therefore make his +choice from amongst the various objects of human belief, and he +must adopt many opinions without discussion, in order to search +the better into that smaller number which he sets apart for +investigation. It is true that whoever receives an opinion on +the word of another, does so far enslave his mind; but it is a +salutary servitude which allows him to make a good use of +freedom. + +A principle of authority must then always occur, under all +circumstances, in some part or other of the moral and +intellectual world. Its place is variable, but a place it +necessarily has. The independence of individual minds may be +greater, or it may be less: unbounded it cannot be. Thus the +question is, not to know whether any intellectual authority +exists in the ages of democracy, but simply where it resides and +by what standard it is to be measured. + +I have shown in the preceding chapter how the equality of +conditions leads men to entertain a sort of instinctive +incredulity of the supernatural, and a very lofty and often +exaggerated opinion of the human understanding. The men who live +at a period of social equality are not therefore easily led to +place that intellectual authority to which they bow either beyond +or above humanity. They commonly seek for the sources of truth +in themselves, or in those who are like themselves. This would +be enough to prove that at such periods no new religion could be +established, and that all schemes for such a purpose would be not +only impious but absurd and irrational. It may be foreseen that +a democratic people will not easily give credence to divine +missions; that they will turn modern prophets to a ready jest; +and they that will seek to discover the chief arbiter of their +belief within, and not beyond, the limits of their kind. + +When the ranks of society are unequal, and men unlike each +other in condition, there are some individuals invested with all +the power of superior intelligence, learning, and enlightenment, +whilst the multitude is sunk in ignorance and prejudice. Men +living at these aristocratic periods are therefore naturally +induced to shape their opinions by the superior standard of a +person or a class of persons, whilst they are averse to recognize +the infallibility of the mass of the people. + +The contrary takes place in ages of equality. The nearer +the citizens are drawn to the common level of an equal and +similar condition, the less prone does each man become to place +implicit faith in a certain man or a certain class of men. But +his readiness to believe the multitude increases, and opinion is +more than ever mistress of the world. Not only is common opinion +the only guide which private judgment retains amongst a +democratic people, but amongst such a people it possesses a power +infinitely beyond what it has elsewhere. At periods of equality +men have no faith in one another, by reason of their common +resemblance; but this very resemblance gives them almost +unbounded confidence in the judgment of the public; for it would +not seem probable, as they are all endowed with equal means of +judging, but that the greater truth should go with the greater +number. + +When the inhabitant of a democratic country compares himself +individually with all those about him, he feels with pride that +he is the equal of any one of them; but when he comes to survey +the totality of his fellows, and to place himself in contrast to +so huge a body, he is instantly overwhelmed by the sense of his +own insignificance and weakness. The same equality which renders +him independent of each of his fellow-citizens taken severally, +exposes him alone and unprotected to the influence of the greater +number. The public has therefore among a democratic people a +singular power, of which aristocratic nations could never so much +as conceive an idea; for it does not persuade to certain +opinions, but it enforces them, and infuses them into the +faculties by a sort of enormous pressure of the minds of all upon +the reason of each. + +In the United States the majority undertakes to supply a +multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who +are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their +own. Everybody there adopts great numbers of theories, on +philosophy, morals, and politics, without inquiry, upon public +trust; and if we look to it very narrowly, it will be perceived +that religion herself holds her sway there, much less as a +doctrine of revelation than as a commonly received opinion. The +fact that the political laws of the Americans are such that the +majority rules the community with sovereign sway, materially +increases the power which that majority naturally exercises over +the mind. For nothing is more customary in man than to recognize +superior wisdom in the person of his oppressor. This political +omnipotence of the majority in the United States doubtless +augments the influence which public opinion would obtain without +it over the mind of each member of the community; but the +foundations of that influence do not rest upon it. They must be +sought for in the principle of equality itself, not in the more +or less popular institutions which men living under that +condition may give themselves. The intellectual dominion of the +greater number would probably be less absolute amongst a +democratic people governed by a king than in the sphere of a pure +democracy, but it will always be extremely absolute; and by +whatever political laws men are governed in the ages of equality, +it may be foreseen that faith in public opinion will become a +species of religion there, and the majority its ministering +prophet. + +Thus intellectual authority will be different, but it will +not be diminished; and far from thinking that it will disappear, +I augur that it may readily acquire too much preponderance, and +confine the action of private judgment within narrower limits +than are suited either to the greatness or the happiness of the +human race. In the principle of equality I very clearly discern +two tendencies; the one leading the mind of every man to untried +thoughts, the other inclined to prohibit him from thinking at +all. And I perceive how, under the dominion of certain laws, +democracy would extinguish that liberty of the mind to which a +democratic social condition is favorable; so that, after having +broken all the bondage once imposed on it by ranks or by men, the +human mind would be closely fettered to the general will of the +greatest number. + +If the absolute power of the majority were to be substituted +by democratic nations, for all the different powers which checked +or retarded overmuch the energy of individual minds, the evil +would only have changed its symptoms. Men would not have found +the means of independent life; they would simply have invented +(no easy task) a new dress for servitude. There is - and I +cannot repeat it too often - there is in this matter for profound +reflection for those who look on freedom as a holy thing, and who +hate not only the despot, but despotism. For myself, when I feel +the hand of power lie heavy on my brow, I care but little to know +who oppresses me; and I am not the more disposed to pass beneath +the yoke, because it is held out to me by the arms of a million +of men. + + +Book One - Chapters III-V + +Chapter III: Why The Americans Display More Readiness And More +Taste For General Ideas Than Their Forefathers, The English +The Deity does not regard the human race collectively. He +surveys at one glance and severally all the beings of whom +mankind is composed, and he discerns in each man the resemblances +which assimilate him to all his fellows, and the differences +which distinguish him from them. God, therefore, stands in no +need of general ideas; that is to say, he is never sensible of +the necessity of collecting a considerable number of analogous +objects under the same form for greater convenience in thinking. +Such is, however, not the case with man. If the human mind were +to attempt to examine and pass a judgment on all the individual +cases before it, the immensity of detail would soon lead it +astray and bewilder its discernment: in this strait, man has +recourse to an imperfect but necessary expedient, which at once +assists and demonstrates his weakness. Having superficially +considered a certain number of objects, and remarked their +resemblance, he assigns to them a common name, sets them apart, +and proceeds onwards. + +General ideas are no proof of the strength, but rather of +the insufficiency of the human intellect; for there are in nature +no beings exactly alike, no things precisely identical, nor any +rules indiscriminately and alike applicable to several objects at +once. The chief merit of general ideas is, that they enable the +human mind to pass a rapid judgment on a great many objects at +once; but, on the other hand, the notions they convey are never +otherwise than incomplete, and they always cause the mind to lose +as much in accuracy as it gains in comprehensiveness. As social +bodies advance in civilization, they acquire the knowledge of new +facts, and they daily lay hold almost unconsciously of some +particular truths. The more truths of this kind a man +apprehends, the more general ideas is he naturally led to +conceive. A multitude of particular facts cannot be seen +separately, without at last discovering the common tie which +connects them. Several individuals lead to the perception of the +species; several species to that of the genus. Hence the habit +and the taste for general ideas will always be greatest amongst a +people of ancient cultivation and extensive knowledge. + +But there are other reasons which impel men to generalize +their ideas, or which restrain them from it. + +The Americans are much more addicted to the use of general +ideas than the English, and entertain a much greater relish for +them: this appears very singular at first sight, when it is +remembered that the two nations have the same origin, that they +lived for centuries under the same laws, and that they still +incessantly interchange their opinions and their manners. This +contrast becomes much more striking still, if we fix our eyes on +our own part of the world, and compare together the two most +enlightened nations which inhabit it. It would seem as if the +mind of the English could only tear itself reluctantly and +painfully away from the observation of particular facts, to rise +from them to their causes; and that it only generalizes in spite +of itself. Amongst the French, on the contrary, the taste for +general ideas would seem to have grown to so ardent a passion, +that it must be satisfied on every occasion. I am informed, +every morning when I wake, that some general and eternal law has +just been discovered, which I never heard mentioned before. +There is not a mediocre scribbler who does not try his hand at +discovering truths applicable to a great kingdom, and who is very +ill pleased with himself if he does not succeed in compressing +the human race into the compass of an article. So great a +dissimilarity between two very enlightened nations surprises me. +If I again turn my attention to England, and observe the events +which have occurred there in the last half-century, I think I may +affirm that a taste for general ideas increases in that country +in proportion as its ancient constitution is weakened. + +The state of civilization is therefore insufficient by +itself to explain what suggests to the human mind the love of +general ideas, or diverts it from them. When the conditions of +men are very unequal, and inequality itself is the permanent +state of society, individual men gradually become so dissimilar +that each class assumes the aspect of a distinct race: only one +of these classes is ever in view at the same instant; and losing +sight of that general tie which binds them all within the vast +bosom of mankind, the observation invariably rests not on man, +but on certain men. Those who live in this aristocratic state of +society never, therefore, conceive very general ideas respecting +themselves, and that is enough to imbue them with an habitual +distrust of such ideas, and an instinctive aversion of them. +He, on the contrary, who inhabits a democratic country, sees +around him, one very hand, men differing but little from each +other; he cannot turn his mind to any one portion of mankind, +without expanding and dilating his thought till it embrace the +whole. All the truths which are applicable to himself, appear to +him equally and similarly applicable to each of his +fellow-citizens and fellow-men. Having contracted the habit of +generalizing his ideas in the study which engages him most, and +interests him more than others, he transfers the same habit to +all his pursuits; and thus it is that the craving to discover +general laws in everything, to include a great number of objects +under the same formula, and to explain a mass of facts by a +single cause, becomes an ardent, and sometimes an undiscerning, +passion in the human mind. + +Nothing shows the truth of this proposition more clearly +than the opinions of the ancients respecting their slaves. The +most profound and capacious minds of Rome and Greece were never +able to reach the idea, at once so general and so simple, of the +common likeness of men, and of the common birthright of each to +freedom: they strove to prove that slavery was in the order of +nature, and that it would always exist. Nay, more, everything +shows that those of the ancients who had passed from the servile +to the free condition, many of whom have left us excellent +writings, did themselves regard servitude in no other light. + +All the great writers of antiquity belonged to the +aristocracy of masters, or at least they saw that aristocracy +established and uncontested before their eyes. Their mind, after +it had expanded itself in several directions, was barred from +further progress in this one; and the advent of Jesus Christ upon +earth was required to teach that all the members of the human +race are by nature equal and alike. + +In the ages of equality all men are independent of each +other, isolated and weak. The movements of the multitude are not +permanently guided by the will of any individuals; at such times +humanity seems always to advance of itself. In order, therefore, +to explain what is passing in the world, man is driven to seek +for some great causes, which, acting in the same manner on all +our fellow-creatures, thus impel them all involuntarily to pursue +the same track. This again naturally leads the human mind to +conceive general ideas, and superinduces a taste for them. + +I have already shown in what way the equality of conditions +leads every man to investigate truths for himself. It may +readily be perceived that a method of this kind must insensibly +beget a tendency to general ideas in the human mind. When I +repudiate the traditions of rank, profession, and birth; when I +escape from the authority of example, to seek out, by the single +effort of my reason, the path to be followed, I am inclined to +derive the motives of my opinions from human nature itself; which +leads me necessarily, and almost unconsciously, to adopt a great +number of very general notions. + +All that I have here said explains the reasons for which the +English display much less readiness and taste or the +generalization of ideas than their American progeny, and still +less again than their French neighbors; and likewise the reason +for which the English of the present day display more of these +qualities than their forefathers did. The English have long been +a very enlightened and a very aristocratic nation; their +enlightened condition urged them constantly to generalize, and +their aristocratic habits confined them to particularize. Hence +arose that philosophy, at once bold and timid, broad and narrow, +which has hitherto prevailed in England, and which still +obstructs and stagnates in so many minds in that country. + +Independently of the causes I have pointed out in what goes +before, others may be discerned less apparent, but no less +efficacious, which engender amongst almost every democratic +people a taste, and frequently a passion, for general ideas. An +accurate distinction must be taken between ideas of this kind. +Some are the result of slow, minute, and conscientious labor of +the mind, and these extend the sphere of human knowledge; others +spring up at once from the first rapid exercise of the wits, and +beget none but very superficial and very uncertain notions. Men +who live in ages of equality have a great deal of curiosity and +very little leisure; their life is so practical, so confused, so +excited, so active, that but little time remains to them for +thought. Such men are prone to general ideas because they spare +them the trouble of studying particulars; they contain, if I may +so speak, a great deal in a little compass, and give, in a little +time, a great return. If then, upon a brief and inattentive +investigation, a common relation is thought to be detected +between certain obtects, inquiry is not pushed any further; and +without examining in detail how far these different objects +differ or agree, they are hastily arranged under one formulary, +in order to pass to another subject. + +One of the distinguishing characteristics of a democratic +period is the taste all men have at such ties for easy success +and present enjoyment. This occurs in the pursuits of the +intellect as well as in all others. Most of those who live at a +time of equality are full of an ambition at once aspiring and +relaxed: they would fain succeed brilliantly and at once, but +they would be dispensed from great efforts to obtain success. +These conflicting tendencies lead straight to the research of +general ideas, by aid of which they flatter themselves that they +can figure very importantly at a small expense, and draw the +attention of the public with very little trouble. And I know not +whether they be wrong in thinking thus. For their readers are as +much averse to investigating anything to the bottom as they can +be themselves; and what is generally sought in the productions of +the mind is easy pleasure and information without labor. + +If aristocratic nations do not make sufficient use of +general ideas, and frequently treat them with inconsiderate +disdain, it is true, on the other hand, that a democratic people +is ever ready to carry ideas of this kind to excess, and to +espouse the with injudicious warmth. + +Chapter IV: Why The Americans Have Never Been So Eager As The +French For General Ideas In Political Matters + +I observed in the last chapter, that the Americans show a +less decided taste for general ideas than the French; this is +more especially true in political matters. Although the +Americans infuse into their legislation infinitely more general +ideas than the English, and although they pay much more attention +than the latter people to the adjustment of the practice of +affairs to theory, no political bodies in the United States have +ever shown so warm an attachment to general ideas as the +Constituent Assembly and the Convention in France. At no time +has the American people laid hold on ideas of this kind with the +passionate energy of the French people in the eighteenth century, +or displayed the same blind confidence in the value and absolute +truth of any theory. This difference between the Americans and +the French originates in several causes, but principally in the +following one. The Americans form a democratic people, which has +always itself directed public affairs. The French are a +democratic people, who, for a long time, could only speculate on +the best manner of conducting them. The social condition of +France led that people to conceive very general ideas on the +subject of government, whilst its political constitution +prevented it from correcting those ideas by experiment,and from +gradually detecting their insufficiency; whereas in America the +two things constantly balance and correct each other. + +It may seem, at first sight, that this is very much opposed +to what I have said before, that democratic nations derive their +love of theory from the excitement of their active life. A more +attentive examination will show that there is nothing +contradictory in the proposition. Men living in democratic +countries eagerly lay hold of general ideas because they have but +little leisure, and because these ideas spare them the trouble of +studying particulars. This is true; but it is only to be +understood to apply to those matters which are not the necessary +and habitual subjects of their thoughts. Mercantile men will take +up very eagerly, and without any very close scrutiny, all the +general ideas on philosophy, politics, science, or the arts, +which may be presented to them; but for such as relate to +commerce, they will not receive them without inquiry, or adopt +them without reserve. The same thing applies to statesmen with +regard to general ideas in politics. If, then, there be a subject +upon which a democratic people is peculiarly liable to abandon +itself, blindly and extravagantly, to general ideas, the best +corrective that can be used will be to make that subject a part +of the daily practical occupation of that people. The people +will then be compelled to enter upon its details, and the details +will teach them the weak points of the theory. This remedy may +frequently be a painful one, but its effect is certain. + +Thus it happens, that the democratic institutions which +compel every citizen to take a practical part in the government, +moderate that excessive taste for general theories in politics +which the principle of equality suggests. + +Chapter V: Of The Manner In Which Religion In The United States +Avails Itself Of Democratic Tendencies + +I have laid it down in a preceding chapter that men cannot +do without dogmatical belief; and even that it is very much to be +desired that such belief should exist amongst them. I now add, +that of all the kinds of dogmatical belief the most desirable +appears to me to be dogmatical belief in matters of religion; and +this is a very clear inference, even from no higher consideration +than the interests of this world. There is hardly any human +action, however particular a character be assigned to it, which +does not originate in some very general idea men have conceived +of the Deity, of his relation to mankind, of the nature of their +own souls, and of their duties to their fellow-creatures. Nor +can anything prevent these ideas from being the common spring +from which everything else emanates. Men are therefore +immeasurably interested in acquiring fixed ideas of God, of the +soul, and of their common duties to their Creator and to their +fellow-men; for doubt on these first principles would abandon all +their actions to the impulse of chance, and would condemn them to +live, to a certain extent, powerless and undisciplined. + +This is then the subject on which it is most important for +each of us to entertain fixed ideas; and unhappily it is also the +subject on which it is most difficult for each of us, left to +himself, to settle his opinions by the sole force of his reason. +None but minds singularly free from the ordinary anxieties of +life - minds at once penetrating, subtle, and trained by thinking +- can even with the assistance of much time and care, sound the +depth of these most necessary truths. And, indeed, we see that +these philosophers are themselves almost always enshrouded in +uncertainties; that at every step the natural light which +illuminates their path grows dimmer and less secure; and that, in +spite of all their efforts, they have as yet only discovered a +small number of conflicting notions, on which the mind of man has +been tossed about for thousands of years, without either laying a +firmer grasp on truth, or finding novelty even in its errors. +Studies of this nature are far above the average capacity of men; +and even if the majority of mankind were capable of such +pursuits, it is evident that leisure to cultivate them would +still be wanting. Fixed ideas of God and human nature are +indispensable to the daily practice of men's lives; but the +practice of their lives prevents them from acquiring such ideas. + +The difficulty appears to me to be without a parallel. +Amongst the sciences there are some which are useful to the mass +of mankind, and which are within its reach; others can only be +approached by the few, and are not cultivated by the many, who +require nothing beyond their more remote applications: but the +daily practice of the science I speak of is indispensable to all, +although the study of it is inaccessible to the far greater +number. + +General ideas respecting God and human nature are therefore +the ideas above all others which it is most suitable to withdraw +from the habitual action of private judgment, and in which there +is most to gain and least to lose by recognizing a principle of +authority. The first object and one of the principal advantages +of religions, is to furnish to each of these fundamental +questions a solution which is at once clear, precise, +intelligible to the mass of mankind, and lasting. There are +religions which are very false and very absurd; but it may be +affirmed, that any religion which remains within the circle I +have just traced, without aspiring to go beyond it (as many +religions have attempted to do, for the purpose of enclosing on +every side the free progress of the human mind), imposes a +salutary restraint on the intellect; and it must be admitted +that, if it do not save men in another world, such religion is at +least very conducive to their happiness and their greatness in +this. This is more especially true of men living in free +countries. When the religion of a people is destroyed, doubt +gets hold of the highest portions of the intellect, and half +paralyzes all the rest of its powers. Every man accustoms +himself to entertain none but confused and changing notions on +the subjects most interesting to his fellow-creatures and +himself. His opinions are ill-defended and easily abandoned: +and, despairing of ever resolving by himself the hardest problems +of the destiny of man, he ignobly submits to think no more about +them. Such a condition cannot but enervate the soul, relax the +springs of the will, and prepare a people for servitude. Nor +does it only happen, in such a case, that they allow their +freedom to be wrested from them; they frequently themselves +surrender it. When there is no longer any principle of authority +in religion any more than in politics, men are speedily +frightened at the aspect of this unbounded independence. The +constant agitation of all surrounding things alarms and exhausts +them. As everything is at sea in the sphere of the intellect, +they determine at least that the mechanism of society should be +firm and fixed; and as they cannot resume their ancient belief, +they assume a master. + +For my own part, I doubt whether man can ever support at the +same time complete religious independence and entire public +freedom. And I am inclined to think, that if faith be wanting in +him, he must serve; and if he be free, he must believe. + +Perhaps, however, this great utility of religions is still +more obvious amongst nations where equality of conditions +prevails than amongst others. It must be acknowledged that +equality, which brings great benefits into the world, +nevertheless suggests to men (as will be shown hereafter) some +very dangerous propensities. It tends to isolate them from each +other, to concentrate every man's attention upon himself; and it +lays open the soul to an inordinate love of material +gratification. The greatest advantage of religion is to inspire +diametrically contrary principles. There is no religion which +does not place the object of man's desires above and beyond the +treasures of earth, and which does not naturally raise his soul +to regions far above those of the senses. Nor is there any which +does not impose on man some sort of duties to his kind, and thus +draws him at times from the contemplation of himself. This +occurs in religions the most false and dangerous. Religious +nations are therefore naturally strong on the very point on which +democratic nations are weak; which shows of what importance it is +for men to preserve their religion as their conditions become +more equal. + +I have neither the right nor the intention of examining the +supernatural means which God employs to infuse religious belief +into the heart of man. I am at this moment considering religions +in a purely human point of view: my object is to inquire by what +means they may most easily retain their sway in the democratic +ages upon which we are entering. It has been shown that, at +times of general cultivation and equality, the human mind does +not consent to adopt dogmatical opinions without reluctance, and +feels their necessity acutely in spiritual matters only. This +proves, in the first place, that at such times religions ought, +more cautiously than at any other, to confine themselves within +their own precincts; for in seeking to extend their power beyond +religious matters, they incur a risk of not being believed at +all. The circle within which they seek to bound the human +intellect ought therefore to be carefully traced, and beyond its +verge the mind should be left in entire freedom to its own +guidance. Mahommed professed to derive from Heaven, and he has +inserted in the Koran, not only a body of religious doctrines, +but political maxims, civil and criminal laws, and theories of +science. The gospel, on the contrary, only speaks of the general +relations of men to God and to each other - beyond which it +inculcates and imposes no point of faith. This alone, besides a +thousand other reasons, would suffice to prove that the former of +these religions will never long predominate in a cultivated and +democratic age, whilst the latter is destined to retain its sway +at these as at all other periods. + +But in continuation of this branch of the subject, I find +that in order for religions to maintain their authority, humanly +speaking, in democratic ages, they must not only confine +themselves strictly within the circle of spiritual matters: their +power also depends very much on the nature of the belief they +inculcate, on the external forms they assume, and on the +obligations they impose. The preceding observation, that +equality leads men to very general and very extensive notions, is +principally to be understood as applied to the question of +religion. Men living in a similar and equal condition in the +world readily conceive the idea of the one God, governing every +man by the same laws, and granting to every man future happiness +on the same conditions. The idea of the unity of mankind +constantly leads them back to the idea of the unity of the +Creator; whilst, on the contrary, in a state of society where men +are broken up into very unequal ranks, they are apt to devise as +many deities as there are nations, castes, classes, or families, +and to trace a thousand private roads to heaven. + +It cannot be denied that Christianity itself has felt, to a +certain extent, the influence which social and political +conditions exercise on religious opinions. At the epoch at which +the Christian religion appeared upon earth, Providence, by whom +the world was doubtless prepared for its coming, had gathered a +large portion of the human race, like an immense flock, under the +sceptre of the Caesars. The men of whom this multitude was +composed were distinguished by numerous differences; but they had +thus much in common, that they all obeyed the same laws, and that +every subject was so weak and insignificant in relation to the +imperial potentate, that all appeared equal when their condition +was contrasted with his. This novel and peculiar state of +mankind necessarily predisposed men to listen to the general +truths which Christianity teaches, and may serve to explain the +facility and rapidity with which they then penetrated into the +human mind. The counterpart of this state of things was +exhibited after the destruction of the empire. The Roman world +being then as it were shattered into a thousand fragments, each +nation resumed its pristine individuality. An infinite scale of +ranks very soon grew up in the bosom of these nations; the +different races were more sharply defined, and each nation was +divided by castes into several peoples. In the midst of this +common effort, which seemed to be urging human society to the +greatest conceivable amount of voluntary subdivision, +Christianity did not lose sight of the leading general ideas +which it had brought into the world. But it appeared, +nevertheless, to lend itself, as much as was possible, to those +new tendencies to which the fractional distribution of mankind +had given birth. Men continued to worship an only God, the +Creator and Preserver of all things; but every people, every +city, and, so to speak, every man, thought to obtain some +distinct privilege, and win the favor of an especial +patron at the foot of the Throne of Grace. Unable to subdivide +the Deity, they multiplied and improperly enhanced the importance +of the divine agents. The homage due to saints and angels became +an almost idolatrous worship amongst the majority of the +Christian world; and apprehensions might be entertained for a +moment lest the religion of Christ should retrograde towards the +superstitions which it had subdued. It seems evident, that the +more the barriers are removed which separate nation from nation +amongst mankind, and citizen from citizen amongst a people, the +stronger is the bent of the human mind, as if by its own impulse, +towards the idea of an only and all-powerful Being, dispensing +equal laws in the same manner to every man. In democratic ages, +then, it is more particularly important not to allow the homage +paid to secondary agents to be confounded with the worship due to +the Creator alone. + +Another truth is no less clear - that religions ought to +assume fewer external observances in democratic periods than at +any others. In speaking of philosophical method among the +Americans, I have shown that nothing is more repugnant to the +human mind in an age of equality than the idea of subjection to +forms. Men living at such times are impatient of figures; to +their eyes symbols appear to be the puerile artifice which is +used to conceal or to set off truths, which should more naturally +be bared to the light of open day: they are unmoved by ceremonial +observances, and they are predisposed to attach a secondary +importance to the details of public worship. Those whose care it +is to regulate the external forms of religion in a democratic age +should pay a close attention to these natural propensities of the +human mind, in order not unnecessarily to run counter to them. I +firmly believe in the necessity of forms, which fix the human +mind in the contemplation of abstract truths, and stimulate its +ardor in the pursuit of them, whilst they invigorate its powers +of retaining them steadfastly. Nor do I suppose that it is +possible to maintain a religion without external observances; +but, on the other hand, I am persuaded that, in the ages upon +which we are entering, it would be peculiarly dangerous to +multiply them beyond measure; and that they ought rather to be +limited to as much as is absolutely necessary to perpetuate the +doctrine itself, which is the substance of religions of which the +ritual is only the form. *a A religion which should become more +minute, more peremptory, and more surcharged with small +observances at a time in which men are becoming more equal, would +soon find itself reduced to a band of fanatical zealots in the +midst of an infidel people. + +[Footnote a: In all religions there are some ceremonies which are +inherent in the substance of the faith itself, and in these +nothing should, on any account, be changed. This is especially +the case with Roman Catholicism, in which the doctrine and the +form are frequently so closely united as to form one point of +belief.] + +I anticipate the objection, that as all religions have +general and eternal truths for their object, they cannot thus +shape themselves to the shifting spirit of every age without +forfeiting their claim to certainty in the eyes of mankind. To +this I reply again, that the principal opinions which constitute +belief, and which theologians call articles of faith, must be +very carefully distinguished from the accessories connected with +them. Religions are obliged to hold fast to the former, whatever +be the peculiar spirit of the age; but they should take good care +not to bind themselves in the same manner to the latter at a time +when everything is in transition, and when the mind, accustomed +to the moving pageant of human affairs, reluctantly endures the +attempt to fix it to any given point. The fixity of external and +secondary things can only afford a chance of duration when civil +society is itself fixed; under any other circumstances I hold it +to be perilous. + +We shall have occasion to see that, of all the passions +which originate in, or are fostered by, equality, there is one +which it renders peculiarly intense, and which it infuses at the +same time into the heart of every man: I mean the love of +well-being. The taste for well-being is the prominent and +indelible feature of democratic ages. It may be believed that a +religion which should undertake to destroy so deep seated a +passion, would meet its own destruction thence in the end; and if +it attempted to wean men entirely from the contemplation of the +good things of this world, in order to devote their faculties +exclusively to the thought of another, it may be foreseen that +the soul would at length escape from its grasp, to plunge into +the exclusive enjoyment of present and material pleasures. The +chief concern of religions is to purify, to regulate, and to +restrain the excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which +men feel at periods of equality; but they would err in attempting +to control it completely or to eradicate it. They will not +succeed in curing men of the love of riches: but they may still +persuade men to enrich themselves by none but honest means. + +This brings me to a final consideration, which comprises, as +it were, all the others. The more the conditions of men are +equalized and assimilated to each other, the more important is it +for religions, whilst they carefully abstain from the daily +turmoil of secular affairs, not needlessly to run counter to the +ideas which generally prevail, and the permanent interests which +exist in the mass of the people. For as public opinion grows to +be more and more evidently the first and most irresistible of +existing powers, the religious principle has no external support +strong enough to enable it long to resist its attacks. This is +not less true of a democratic people, ruled by a despot, than in +a republic. In ages of equality, kings may often command +obedience, but the majority always commands belief: to the +majority, therefore, deference is to be paid in whatsoever is not +contrary to the faith. + +I showed in my former volumes how the American clergy stand +aloof from secular affairs. This is the most obvious, but it is +not the only, example of their self-restraint. In America +religion is a distinct sphere, in which the priest is sovereign, +but out of which he takes care never to go. Within its limits he +is the master of the mind; beyond them, he leaves men to +themselves, and surrenders them to the independence and +instability which belong to their nature and their age. I have +seen no country in which Christianity is clothed with fewer +forms, figures, and observances than in the United States; or +where it presents more distinct, more simple, or more general +notions to the mind. Although the Christians of America are +divided into a multitude of sects, they all look upon their +religion in the same light. This applies to Roman Catholicism as +well as to the other forms of belief. There are no Romish +priests who show less taste for the minute individual observances +for extraordinary or peculiar means of salvation, or who cling +more to the spirit, and less to the letter of the law, than the +Roman Catholic priests of the United States. Nowhere is that +doctrine of the Church, which prohibits the worship reserved to +God alone from being offered to the saints, more clearly +inculcated or more generally followed. Yet the Roman Catholics +of America are very submissive and very sincere. + +Another remark is applicable to the clergy of every +communion. The American ministers of the gospel do not attempt +to draw or to fix all the thoughts of man upon the life to come; +they are willing to surrender a portion of his heart to the cares +of the present; seeming to consider the goods of this world as +important, although as secondary, objects. If they take no part +themselves in productive labor, they are at least interested in +its progression, and ready to applaud its results; and whilst +they never cease to point to the other world as the great object +of the hopes and fears of the believer, they do not forbid him +honestly to court prosperity in this. Far from attempting to show +that these things are distinct and contrary to one another, they +study rather to find out on what point they are most nearly and +closely connected. + +All the American clergy know and respect the intellectual +supremacy exercised by the majority; they never sustain any but +necessary conflicts with it. They take no share in the +altercations of parties, but they readily adopt the general +opinions of their country and their age; and they allow +themselves to be borne away without opposition in the current of +feeling and opinion by which everything around them is carried +along. They endeavor to amend their contemporaries, but they do +not quit fellowship with them. Public opinion is therefore never +hostile to them; it rather supports and protects them; and their +belief owes its authority at the same time to the strength which +is its own, and to that which they borrow from the opinions of +the majority. Thus it is that, by respecting all democratic +tendencies not absolutely contrary to herself, and by making use +of several of them for her own purposes, religion sustains an +advantageous struggle with that spirit of individual independence +which is her most dangerous antagonist. + + +Book One - Chapters VI-IX + +Chapter VI: Of The Progress Of Roman Catholicism In The United +States + +America is the most democratic country in the world, and it +is at the same time (according to reports worthy of belief) the +country in which the Roman Catholic religion makes most progress. +At first sight this is surprising. Two things must here be +accurately distinguished: equality inclines men to wish to form +their own opinions; but, on the other hand, it imbues them with +the taste and the idea of unity, simplicity, and impartiality in +the power which governs society. Men living in democratic ages +are therefore very prone to shake off all religious authority; +but if they consent to subject themselves to any authority of +this kind, they choose at least that it should be single and +uniform. Religious powers not radiating from a common centre are +naturally repugnant to their minds; and they almost as readily +conceive that there should be no religion, as that there should +be several. At the present time, more than in any preceding one, +Roman Catholics are seen to lapse into infidelity, and +Protestants to be converted to Roman Catholicism. If the Roman +Catholic faith be considered within the pale of the church, it +would seem to be losing ground; without that pale, to be gaining +it. Nor is this circumstance difficult of explanation. The men +of our days are naturally disposed to believe; but, as soon as +they have any religion, they immediately find in themselves a +latent propensity which urges them unconsciously towards +Catholicism. Many of the doctrines and the practices of the +Romish Church astonish them; but they feel a secret admiration +for its discipline, and its great unity attracts them. If +Catholicism could at length withdraw itself from the political +animosities to which it has given rise, I have hardly any doubt +but that the same spirit of the age, which appears to be so +opposed to it, would become so favorable as to admit of its great +and sudden advancement. One of the most ordinary weaknesses of +the human intellect is to seek to reconcile contrary principles, +and to purchase peace at the expense of logic. Thus there have +ever been, and will ever be, men who, after having submitted some +portion of their religious belief to the principle of authority, +will seek to exempt several other parts of their faith from its +influence, and to keep their minds floating at random between +liberty and obedience. But I am inclined to believe that the +number of these thinkers will be less in democratic than in other +ages; and that our posterity will tend more and more to a single +division into two parts - some relinquishing Christianity +entirely, and others returning to the bosom of the Church of +Rome. + +Chapter VII: Of The Cause Of A Leaning To Pantheism Amongst +Democratic Nations + +I shall take occasion hereafter to show under what form the +preponderating taste of a democratic people for very general +ideas manifests itself in politics; but I would point out, at the +present stage of my work, its principal effect on philosophy. It +cannot be denied that pantheism has made great progress in our +age. The writings of a part of Europe bear visible marks of it: +the Germans introduce it into philosophy, and the French into +literature. Most of the works of imagination published in France +contain some opinions or some tinge caught from pantheistical +doctrines, or they disclose some tendency to such doctrines in +their authors. This appears to me not only to proceed from an +accidental, but from a permanent cause. + +When the conditions of society are becoming more equal, and +each individual man becomes more like all the rest, more weak and +more insignificant, a habit grows up of ceasing to notice the +citizens to consider only the people, and of overlooking +individuals to think only of their kind. At such times the human +mind seeks to embrace a multitude of different objects at once; +and it constantly strives to succeed in connecting a variety of +consequences with a single cause. The idea of unity so possesses +itself of man, and is sought for by him so universally, that if +he thinks he has found it, he readily yields himself up to repose +in that belief. Nor does he content himself with the discovery +that nothing is in the world but a creation and a Creator; still +embarrassed by this primary division of things, he seeks to +expand and to simplify his conception by including God and the +universe in one great whole. If there be a philosophical system +which teaches that all things material and immaterial, visible +and invisible, which the world contains, are only to be +considered as the several parts of an immense Being, which alone +remains unchanged amidst the continual change and ceaseless +transformation of all that constitutes it, we may readily infer +that such a system, although it destroy the individuality of man +- nay, rather because it destroys that individuality - will have +secret charms for men living in democracies. All their habits of +thought prepare them to conceive it, and predispose them to adopt +it. It naturally attracts and fixes their imagination; it +fosters the pride, whilst it soothes the indolence, of their +minds. Amongst the different systems by whose aid philosophy +endeavors to explain the universe, I believe pantheism to be one +of those most fitted to seduce the human mind in democratic ages. +Against it all who abide in their attachment to the true +greatness of man should struggle and combine. + +Chapter VIII: The Principle Of Equality Suggests To The Americans +The Idea Of The Indefinite Perfectibility Of Man + +Equality suggests to the human mind several ideas which +would not have originated from any other source, and it modifies +almost all those previously entertained. I take as an example +the idea of human perfectibility, because it is one of the +principal notions that the intellect can conceive, and because it +constitutes of itself a great philosophical theory, which is +every instant to be traced by its consequences in the practice of +human affairs. Although man has many points of resemblance with +the brute creation, one characteristic is peculiar to himself - +he improves: they are incapable of improvement. Mankind could +not fail to discover this difference from its earliest period. +The idea of perfectibility is therefore as old as the world; +equality did not give birth to it, although it has imparted to it +a novel character. + +When the citizens of a community are classed according to +their rank, their profession, or their birth, and when all men +are constrained to follow the career which happens to open before +them, everyone thinks that the utmost limits of human power are +to be discerned in proximity to himself, and none seeks any +longer to resist the inevitable law of his destiny. Not indeed +that an aristocratic people absolutely contests man's faculty of +self- improvement, but they do not hold it to be indefinite; +amelioration they conceive, but not change: they imagine that the +future condition of society may be better, but not essentially +different; and whilst they admit that mankind has made vast +strides in improvement, and may still have some to make, they +assign to it beforehand certain impassable limits. Thus they do +not presume that they have arrived at the supreme good or at +absolute truth (what people or what man was ever wild enough to +imagine it?) but they cherish a persuasion that they have pretty +nearly reached that degree of greatness and knowledge which our +imperfect nature admits of; and as nothing moves about them they +are willing to fancy that everything is in its fit place. Then it +is that the legislator affects to lay down eternal laws; that +kings and nations will raise none but imperishable monuments; and +that the present generation undertakes to spare generations to +come the care of regulating their destinies. + +In proportion as castes disappear and the classes of society +approximate - as manners, customs, and laws vary, from the +tumultuous intercourse of men -as new facts arise - as new truths +are brought to light - as ancient opinions are dissipated, and +others take their place -the image of an ideal perfection, +forever on the wing, presents itself to the human mind. Continual +changes are then every instant occurring under the observation of +every man: the position of some is rendered worse; and he learns +but too well, that no people and no individual, how enlightened +soever they may be, can lay claim to infallibility; - the +condition of others is improved; whence he infers that man is +endowed with an indefinite faculty of improvement. His reverses +teach him that none may hope to have discovered absolute good - +his success stimulates him to the never-ending pursuit of it. +Thus, forever seeking -forever falling, to rise again - often +disappointed, but not discouraged - he tends unceasingly towards +that unmeasured greatness so indistinctly visible at the end of +the long track which humanity has yet to tread. It can hardly be +believed how many facts naturally flow from the philosophical +theory of the indefinite perfectibility of man, or how strong an +influence it exercises even on men who, living entirely for the +purposes of action and not of thought, seem to conform their +actions to it, without knowing anything about it. I accost an +American sailor, and I inquire why the ships of his country are +built so as to last but for a short time; he answers without +hesitation that the art of navigation is every day making such +rapid progress, that the finest vessel would become almost +useless if it lasted beyond a certain number of years. In these +words, which fell accidentally and on a particular subject from a +man of rude attainments, I recognize the general and systematic +idea upon which a great people directs all its concerns. + +Aristocratic nations are naturally too apt to narrow the +scope of human perfectibility; democratic nations to expand it +beyond compass. + +Chapter IX: The Example Of The Americans Does Not Prove That A +Democratic People Can Have No Aptitude And No Taste For Science, +Literature, Or Art + +It must be acknowledged that amongst few of the civilized +nations of our time have the higher sciences made less progress +than in the United States; and in few have great artists, fine +poets, or celebrated writers been more rare. Many Europeans, +struck by this fact, have looked upon it as a natural and +inevitable result of equality; and they have supposed that if a +democratic state of society and democratic institutions were ever +to prevail over the whole earth, the human mind would gradually +find its beacon-lights grow dim, and men would relapse into a +period of darkness. To reason thus is, I think, to confound +several ideas which it is important to divide and to examine +separately: it is to mingle, unintentionally, what is democratic +with what is only American. + +The religion professed by the first emigrants, and +bequeathed by them to their descendants, simple in its form of +worship, austere and almost harsh in its principles, and hostile +to external symbols and to ceremonial pomp, is naturally +unfavorable to the fine arts, and only yields a reluctant +sufferance to the pleasures of literature. The Americans are a +very old and a very enlightened people, who have fallen upon a +new and unbounded country, where they may extend themselves at +pleasure, and which they may fertilize without difficulty. This +state of things is without a parallel in the history of the +world. In America, then, every one finds facilities, unknown +elsewhere, for making or increasing his fortune. The spirit of +gain is always on the stretch, and the human mind, constantly +diverted from the pleasures of imagination and the labors of the +intellect, is there swayed by no impulse but the pursuit of +wealth. Not only are manufacturing and commercial classes to be +found in the United States, as they are in all other countries; +but what never occurred elsewhere, the whole community is +simultaneously engaged in productive industry and commerce. I am +convinced that, if the Americans had been alone in the world, +with the freedom and the knowledge acquired by their forefathers, +and the passions which are their own, they would not have been +slow to discover that progress cannot long be made in the +application of the sciences without cultivating the theory of +them; that all the arts are perfected by one another: and, +however absorbed they might have been by the pursuit of the +principal object of their desires, they would speedily have +admitted, that it is necessary to turn aside from it +occasionally, in order the better to attain it in the end. + +The taste for the pleasures of the mind is moreover so +natural to the heart of civilized man, that amongst the polite +nations, which are least disposed to give themselves up to these +pursuits, a certain number of citizens are always to be found who +take part in them. This intellectual craving, when once felt, +would very soon have been satisfied. But at the very time when +the Americans were naturally inclined to require nothing of +science but its special applications to the useful arts and the +means of rendering life comfortable, learned and literary Europe +was engaged in exploring the common sources of truth, and in +improving at the same time all that can minister to the pleasures +or satisfy the wants of man. At the head of the enlightened +nations of the Old World the inhabitants of the United States +more particularly distinguished one, to which they were closely +united by a common origin and by kindred habits. Amongst this +people they found distinguished men of science, artists of skill, +writers of eminence, and they were enabled to enjoy the treasures +of the intellect without requiring to labor in amassing them. I +cannot consent to separate America from Europe, in spite of the +ocean which intervenes. I consider the people of the United +States as that portion of the English people which is +commissioned to explore the wilds of the New World; whilst the +rest of the nation, enjoying more leisure and less harassed by +the drudgery of life, may devote its energies to thought, and +enlarge in all directions the empire of the mind. +The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and +it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed +in a similar one. Their strictly Puritanical origin - their +exclusively commercial habits - even the country they inhabit, +which seems to divert their minds from the pursuit of science, +literature, and the arts - the proximity of Europe, which allows +them to neglect these pursuits without relapsing into barbarism - +a thousand special causes, of which I have only been able to +point out the most important - have singularly concurred to fix +the mind of the American upon purely practical objects. His +passions, his wants, his education, and everything about him seem +to unite in drawing the native of the United States earthward: +his religion alone bids him turn, from time to time, a transient +and distracted glance to heaven. Let us cease then to view all +democratic nations under the mask of the American people, and let +us attempt to survey them at length with their own proper +features. + +It is possible to conceive a people not subdivided into any +castes or scale of ranks; in which the law, recognizing no +privileges, should divide inherited property into equal shares; +but which, at the same time, should be without knowledge and +without freedom. Nor is this an empty hypothesis: a despot may +find that it is his interest to render his subjects equal and to +leave them ignorant, in order more easily to keep them slaves. +Not only would a democratic people of this kind show neither +aptitude nor taste for science, literature, or art, but it would +probably never arrive at the possession of them. The law of +descent would of itself provide for the destruction of fortunes +at each succeeding generation; and new fortunes would be acquired +by none. The poor man, without either knowledge or freedom, +would not so much as conceive the idea of raising himself to +wealth; and the rich man would allow himself to be degraded to +poverty, without a notion of self-defence. Between these two +members of the community complete and invincible equality would +soon be established. + +No one would then have time or taste to devote himself to +the pursuits or pleasures of the intellect; but all men would +remain paralyzed by a state of common ignorance and equal +servitude. When I conceive a democratic society of this kind, I +fancy myself in one of those low, close, and gloomy abodes, where +the light which breaks in from without soon faints and fades +away. A sudden heaviness overpowers me, and I grope through the +surrounding darkness, to find the aperture which will restore me +to daylight and the air. + +But all this is not applicable to men already enlightened +who retain their freedom, after having abolished from amongst +them those peculiar and hereditary rights which perpetuated the +tenure of property in the hands of certain individuals or certain +bodies. When men living in a democratic state of society are +enlightened, they readily discover that they are confined and +fixed within no limits which constrain them to take up with their +present fortune. They all therefore conceive the idea of +increasing it; if they are free, they all attempt it, but all do +not succeed in the same manner. The legislature, it is true, no +longer grants privileges, but they are bestowed by nature. As +natural inequality is very great, fortunes become unequal as soon +as every man exerts all his faculties to get rich. The law of +descent prevents the establishment of wealthy families; but it +does not prevent the existence of wealthy individuals. It +constantly brings back the members of the community to a common +level, from which they as constantly escape: and the inequality +of fortunes augments in proportion as knowledge is diffused and +liberty increased. + +A sect which arose in our time, and was celebrated for its +talents and its extravagance, proposed to concentrate all +property into the hands of a central power, whose function it +should afterwards be to parcel it out to individuals, according +to their capacity. This would have been a method of escaping +from that complete and eternal equality which seems to threaten +democratic society. But it would be a simpler and less dangerous +remedy to grant no privilege to any, giving to all equal +cultivation and equal independence, and leaving everyone to +determine his own position. Natural inequality will very soon +make way for itself, and wealth will spontaneously pass into the +hands of the most capable. + +Free and democratic communities, then, will always contain a +considerable number of people enjoying opulence or competency. +The wealthy will not be so closely linked to each other as the +members of the former aristocratic class of society: their +propensities will be different, and they will scarcely ever enjoy +leisure as secure or as complete: but they will be far more +numerous than those who belonged to that class of society could +ever be. These persons will not be strictly confined to the +cares of practical life, and they will still be able, though in +different degrees, to indulge in the pursuits and pleasures of +the intellect. In those pleasures they will indulge; for if it +be true that the human mind leans on one side to the narrow, the +practical, and the useful, it naturally rises on the other to the +infinite, the spiritual, and the beautiful. Physical wants +confine it to the earth; but, as soon as the tie is loosened, it +will unbend itself again. + +Not only will the number of those who can take an interest +in the productions of the mind be enlarged, but the taste for +intellectual enjoyment will descend, step by step, even to those +who, in aristocratic societies, seem to have neither time nor +ability to in indulge in them. When hereditary wealth, the +privileges of rank, and the prerogatives of birth have ceased to +be, and when every man derives his strength from himself alone, +it becomes evident that the chief cause of disparity between the +fortunes of men is the mind. Whatever tends to invigorate, to +extend, or to adorn the mind, instantly rises to great value. +The utility of knowledge becomes singularly conspicuous even to +the eyes of the multitude: those who have no taste for its charms +set store upon its results, and make some efforts to acquire it. +In free and enlightened democratic ages, there is nothing to +separate men from each other or to retain them in their peculiar +sphere; they rise or sink with extreme rapidity. All classes +live in perpetual intercourse from their great proximity to each +other. They communicate and intermingle every day -they imitate +and envy one other: this suggests to the people many ideas, +notions, and desires which it would never have entertained if the +distinctions of rank had been fixed and society at rest. In such +nations the servant never considers himself as an entire stranger +to the pleasures and toils of his master, nor the poor man to +those of the rich; the rural population assimilates itself to +that of the towns, and the provinces to the capital. No one +easily allows himself to be reduced to the mere material cares of +life; and the humblest artisan casts at times an eager and a +furtive glance into the higher regions of the intellect. People +do not read with the same notions or in the same manner as they +do in an aristocratic community; but the circle of readers is +unceasingly expanded, till it includes all the citizens. + +As soon as the multitude begins to take an interest in the +labors of the mind, it finds out that to excel in some of them is +a powerful method of acquiring fame, power, or wealth. The +restless ambition which equality begets instantly takes this +direction as it does all others. The number of those who +cultivate science, letters, and the arts, becomes immense. The +intellectual world starts into prodigious activity: everyone +endeavors to open for himself a path there, and to draw the eyes +of the public after him. Something analogous occurs to what +happens in society in the United States, politically considered. +What is done is often imperfect, but the attempts are +innumerable; and, although the results of individual effort are +commonly very small, the total amount is always very large. + +It is therefore not true to assert that men living in +democratic ages are naturally indifferent to science, literature, +and the arts: only it must be acknowledged that they cultivate +them after their own fashion, and bring to the task their own +peculiar qualifications and deficiencies. + + +Book One - Chapters X-XII + +Chapter X: Why The Americans Are More Addicted To Practical Than +To Theoretical Science + +If a democratic state of society and democratic institutions +do not stop the career of the human mind, they incontestably +guide it in one direction in preference to another. Their +effects, thus circumscribed, are still exceedingly great; and I +trust I may be pardoned if I pause for a moment to survey them. +We had occasion, in speaking of the philosophical method of the +American people, to make several remarks which must here be +turned to account. + +Equality begets in man the desire of judging of everything +for himself: it gives him, in all things, a taste for the +tangible and the real, a contempt for tradition and for forms. +These general tendencies are principally discernible in the +peculiar subject of this chapter. Those who cultivate the +sciences amongst a democratic people are always afraid of losing +their way in visionary speculation. They mistrust systems; they +adhere closely to facts and the study of facts with their own +senses. As they do not easily defer to the mere name of any +fellow-man, they are never inclined to rest upon any man's +authority; but, on the contrary, they are unremitting in their +efforts to point out the weaker points of their neighbors' +opinions. Scientific precedents have very little weight with +them; they are never long detained by the subtility of the +schools, nor ready to accept big words for sterling coin; they +penetrate, as far as they can, into the principal parts of the +subject which engages them, and they expound them in the +vernacular tongue. Scientific pursuits then follow a freer and a +safer course, but a less lofty one. + +The mind may, as it appears to me, divide science into three +parts. The first comprises the most theoretical principles, and +those more abstract notions whose application is either unknown +or very remote. The second is composed of those general truths +which still belong to pure theory, but lead, nevertheless, by a +straight and short road to practical results. Methods of +application and means of execution make up the third. Each of +these different portions of science may be separately cultivated, +although reason and experience show that none of them can prosper +long, if it be absolutely cut off from the two others. + +In America the purely practical part of science is admirably +understood, and careful attention is paid to the theoretical +portion which is immediately requisite to application. On this +head the Americans always display a clear, free, original, and +inventive power of mind. But hardly anyone in the United States +devotes himself to the essentially theoretical and abstract +portion of human knowledge. In this respect the Americans carry +to excess a tendency which is, I think, discernible, though in a +less degree, amongst all democratic nations. + +Nothing is more necessary to the culture of the higher +sciences, or of the more elevated departments of science, than +meditation; and nothing is less suited to meditation than the +structure of democratic society. We do not find there, as +amongst an aristocratic people, one class which clings to a state +of repose because it is well off; and another which does not +venture to stir because it despairs of improving its condition. +Everyone is actively in motion: some in quest of power, others of +gain. In the midst of this universal tumult - this incessant +conflict of jarring interests - this continual stride of men +after fortune - where is that calm to be found which is necessary +for the deeper combinations of the intellect? How can the mind +dwell upon any single point, when everything whirls around it, +and man himself is swept and beaten onwards by the heady current +which rolls all things in its course? But the permanent +agitation which subsists in the bosom of a peaceable and +established democracy, must be distinguished from the tumultuous +and revolutionary movements which almost always attend the birth +and growth of democratic society. When a violent revolution +occurs amongst a highly civilized people, it cannot fail to give +a sudden impulse to their feelings and their opinions. This is +more particularly true of democratic revolutions, which stir up +all the classes of which a people is composed, and beget, at the +same time, inordinate ambition in the breast of every member of +the community. The French made most surprising advances in the +exact sciences at the very time at which they were finishing the +destruction of the remains of their former feudal society; yet +this sudden fecundity is not to be attributed to democracy, but +to the unexampled revolution which attended its growth. What +happened at that period was a special incident, and it would be +unwise to regard it as the test of a general principle. +Great revolutions are not more common amongst democratic +nations than amongst others: I am even inclined to believe that +they are less so. But there prevails amongst those populations a +small distressing motion -a sort of incessant jostling of men - +which annoys and disturbs the mind, without exciting or elevating +it. Men who live in democratic communities not only seldom +indulge in meditation, but they naturally entertain very little +esteem for it. A democratic state of society and democratic +institutions plunge the greater part of men in constant active +life; and the habits of mind which are suited to an active life, +are not always suited to a contemplative one. The man of action +is frequently obliged to content himself with the best he can +get, because he would never accomplish his purpose if he chose to +carry every detail to perfection. He has perpetually occasion to +rely on ideas which he has not had leisure to search to the +bottom; for he is much more frequently aided by the opportunity +of an idea than by its strict accuracy; and, in the long run, he +risks less in making use of some false principles, than in +spending his time in establishing all his principles on the basis +of truth. The world is not led by long or learned demonstrations; +a rapid glance at particular incidents, the daily study of the +fleeting passions of the multitude, the accidents of the time, +and the art of turning them to account, decide all its affairs. + +In the ages in which active life is the condition of almost +everyone, men are therefore generally led to attach an excessive +value to the rapid bursts and superficial conceptions of the +intellect; and, on the other hand, to depreciate below their true +standard its slower and deeper labors. This opinion of the +public influences the judgment of the men who cultivate the +sciences; they are persuaded that they may succeed in those +pursuits without meditation, or deterred from such pursuits as +demand it. + +There are several methods of studying the sciences. Amongst +a multitude of men you will find a selfish, mercantile, and +trading taste for the discoveries of the mind, which must not be +confounded with that disinterested passion which is kindled in +the heart of the few. A desire to utilize knowledge is one +thing; the pure desire to know is another. I do not doubt that +in a few minds and far between, an ardent, inexhaustible love of +truth springs up, self-supported, and living in ceaseless +fruition without ever attaining the satisfaction which it seeks. +This ardent love it is - this proud, disinterested love of what +is true - which raises men to the abstract sources of truth, to +draw their mother-knowledge thence. If Pascal had had nothing in +view but some large gain, or even if he had been stimulated by +the love of fame alone, I cannot conceive that he would ever have +been able to rally all the powers of his mind, as he did, for the +better discovery of the most hidden things of the Creator. When +I see him, as it were, tear his soul from the midst of all the +cares of life to devote it wholly to these researches, and, +prematurely snapping the links which bind the frame to life, die +of old age before forty, I stand amazed, and I perceive that no +ordinary cause is at work to produce efforts so extra-ordinary. + +The future will prove whether these passions, at once so +rare and so productive, come into being and into growth as easily +in the midst of democratic as in aristocratic communities. For +myself, I confess that I am slow to believe it. In aristocratic +society, the class which gives the tone to opinion, and has the +supreme guidance of affairs, being permanently and hereditarily +placed above the multitude, naturally conceives a lofty idea of +itself and of man. It loves to invent for him noble pleasures, +to carve out splendid objects for his ambition. Aristocracies +often commit very tyrannical and very inhuman actions; but they +rarely entertain grovelling thoughts; and they show a kind of +haughty contempt of little pleasures, even whilst they indulge in +them. The effect is greatly to raise the general pitch of +society. In aristocratic ages vast ideas are commonly entertained +of the dignity, the power, and the greatness of man. These +opinions exert their influence on those who cultivate the +sciences, as well as on the rest of the community. They +facilitate the natural impulse of the mind to the highest regions +of thought, and they naturally prepare it to conceive a sublime - +nay, almost a divine - love of truth. Men of science at such +periods are consequently carried away by theory; and it even +happens that they frequently conceive an inconsiderate contempt +for the practical part of learning. "Archimedes," says Plutarch, +"was of so lofty a spirit, that he never condescended to write +any treatise on the manner of constructing all these engines of +offence and defence. And as he held this science of inventing +and putting together engines, and all arts generally speaking +which tended to any usetul end in practice, to be vile, low, and +mercenary, he spent his talents and his studious hours in writing +of those things only whose beauty and subtilty had in them no +admixture of necessity." Such is the aristocratic aim of science; +in democratic nations it cannot be the same. + +The greater part of the men who constitute these nations are +extremely eager in the pursuit of actual and physical +gratification. As they are always dissatisfied with the position +which they occupy, and are always free to leave it, they think of +nothing but the means of changing their fortune, or of increasing +it. To minds thus predisposed, every new method which leads by a +shorter road to wealth, every machine which spares labor, every +instrument which diminishes the cost of production, every +discovery which facilitates pleasures or augments them, seems to +be the grandest effort of the human intellect. It is chiefly +from these motives that a democratic people addicts itself to +scientific pursuits - that it understands, and that it respects +them. In aristocratic ages, science is more particularly called +upon to furnish gratification to the mind; in democracies, to the +body. You may be sure that the more a nation is democratic, +enlightened, and free, the greater will be the number of these +interested promoters of scientific genius, and the more will +discoveries immediately applicable to productive industry confer +gain, fame, and even power on their authors. For in democracies +the working class takes a part in public affairs; and public +honors, as well as pecuniary remuneration, may be awarded to +those who deserve them. In a community thus organized it may +easily be conceived that the human mind may be led insensibly to +the neglect of theory; and that it is urged, on the contrary, +with unparalleled vehemence to the applications of science, or at +least to that portion of theoretical science which is necessary +to those who make such applications. In vain will some innate +propensity raise the mind towards the loftier spheres of the +intellect; interest draws it down to the middle zone. There it +may develop all its energy and restless activity, there it may +engender all its wonders. These very Americans, who have not +discovered one of the general laws of mechanics, have introduced +into navigation an engine which changes the aspect of the world. + +Assuredly I do not content that the democratic nations of +our time are destined to witness the extinction of the +transcendent luminaries of man's intelligence, nor even that no +new lights will ever start into existence. At the age at which +the world has now arrived, and amongst so many cultivated +nations, perpetually excited by the fever of productive industry, +the bonds which connect the different parts of science together +cannot fail to strike the observation; and the taste for +practical science itself, if it be enlightened, ought to lead men +not to neglect theory. In the midst of such numberless attempted +applications of so many experiments, repeated every day, it is +almost impossible that general laws should not frequently be +brought to light; so that great discoveries would be frequent, +though great inventors be rare. I believe, moreover, in the high +calling of scientific minds. If the democratic principle does +not, on the one hand, induce men to cultivate science for its own +sake, on the other it enormously increases the number of those +who do cultivate it. Nor is it credible that, from amongst so +great a multitude no speculative genius should from time to time +arise, inflamed by the love of truth alone. Such a one, we may +be sure, would dive into the deepest mysteries of nature, +whatever be the spirit of his country or his age. He requires no +assistance in his course - enough that he be not checked in it. + +All that I mean to say is this: - permanent inequality of +conditions leads men to confine themselves to the arrogant and +sterile research of abstract truths; whilst the social condition +and the institutions of democracy prepare them to seek the +immediate and useful practical results of the sciences. This +tendency is natural and inevitable: it is curious to be +acquainted with it, and it may be necessary to point it out. If +those who are called upon to guide the nations of our time +clearly discerned from afar off these new tendencies, which will +soon be irresistible, they would understand that, possessing +education and freedom, men living in democratic ages cannot fail +to improve the industrial part of science; and that henceforward +all the efforts of the constituted authorities ought to be +directed to support the highest branches of learning, and to +foster the nobler passion for science itself. In the present age +the human mind must be coerced into theoretical studies; it runs +of its own accord to practical applications; and, instead of +perpetually referring it to the minute examination of secondary +effects, it is well to divert it from them sometimes, in order to +raise it up to the contemplation of primary causes. Because the +civilization of ancient Rome perished in consequence of the +invasion of the barbarians, we are perhaps too apt to think that +civilization cannot perish in any other manner. If the light by +which we are guided is ever extinguished, it will dwindle by +degrees, and expire of itself. By dint of close adherence to +mere applications, principles would be lost sight of; and when +the principles were wholly forgotten, the methods derived from +them would be ill-pursued. New methods could no longer be +invented, and men would continue to apply, without intelligence, +and without art, scientific processes no longer understood. + +When Europeans first arrived in China, three hundred years +ago, they found that almost all the arts had reached a certain +degree of perfection there; and they were surprised that a people +which had attained this point should not have gone beyond it. At +a later period they discovered some traces of the higher branches +of science which were lost. The nation was absorbed in +productive industry: the greater part of its scientific processes +had been preserved, but science itself no longer existed there. +This served to explain the strangely motionless state in which +they found the minds of this people. The Chinese, in following +the track of their forefathers, had forgotten the reasons by +which the latter had been guided. They still used the formula, +without asking for its meaning: they retained the instrument, but +they no longer possessed the art of altering or renewing it. The +Chinese, then, had lost the power of change; for them to improve +was impossible. They were compelled, at all times and in all +points, to imitate their predecessors, lest they should stray +into utter darkness, by deviating for an instant from the path +already laid down for them. The source of human knowledge was +all but dry; and though the stream still ran on, it could neither +swell its waters nor alter its channel. Notwithstanding this, +China had subsisted peaceably for centuries. The invaders who +had conquered the country assumed the manners of the inhabitants, +and order prevailed there. A sort of physical prosperity was +everywhere discernible: revolutions were rare, and war was, so to +speak, unknown. + +It is then a fallacy to flatter ourselves with the +reflection that the barbarians are still far from us; for if +there be some nations which allow civilization to be torn from +their grasp, there are others who trample it themselves under +their feet. + +Chapter XI: Of The Spirit In Which The Americans Cultivate The +Arts + +It would be to waste the time of my readers and my own if I +strove to demonstrate how the general mediocrity of fortunes, the +absence of superfluous wealth, the universal desire of comfort, +and the constant efforts by which everyone attempts to procure +it, make the taste for the useful predominate over the love of +the beautiful in the heart of man. Democratic nations, amongst +which all these things exist, will therefore cultivate the arts +which serve to render life easy, in preference to those whose +object is to adorn it. They will habitually prefer the useful to +the beautiful, and they will require that the beautiful should be +useful. But I propose to go further; and after having pointed +out this first feature, to sketch several others. + +It commonly happens that in the ages of privilege the +practice of almost all the arts becomes a privilege; and that +every profession is a separate walk, upon which it is not +allowable for everyone to enter. Even when productive industry +is free, the fixed character which belongs to aristocratic +nations gradually segregates all the persons who practise the +same art, till they form a distinct class, always composed of the +same families, whose members are all known to each other, and +amongst whom a public opinion of their own and a species of +corporate pride soon spring up. In a class or guild of this kind, +each artisan has not only his fortune to make, but his reputation +to preserve. He is not exclusively swayed by his own interest, +or even by that of his customer, but by that of the body to which +he belongs; and the interest of that body is, that each artisan +should produce the best possible workmanship. In aristocratic +ages, the object of the arts is therefore to manufacture as well +as possible - not with the greatest despatch, or at the lowest +rate. + +When, on the contrary, every profession is open to all - +when a multitude of persons are constantly embracing and +abandoning it - and when its several members are strangers to +each other, indifferent, and from their numbers hardly seen +amongst themselves; the social tie is destroyed, and each +workman, standing alone, endeavors simply to gain the greatest +possible quantity of money at the least possible cost. The will +of the customer is then his only limit. But at the same time a +corresponding revolution takes place in the customer also. In +countries in which riches as well as power are concentrated and +retained in the hands of the few, the use of the greater part of +this world's goods belongs to a small number of individuals, who +are always the same. Necessity, public opinion, or moderate +desires exclude all others from the enjoyment of them. As this +aristocratic class remains fixed at the pinnacle of greatness on +which it stands, without diminution or increase, it is always +acted upon by the same wants and affected by them in the same +manner. The men of whom it is composed naturally derive from +their superior and hereditary position a taste for what is +extremely well made and lasting. This affects the general way of +thinking of the nation in relation to the arts. It often occurs, +among such a people, that even the peasant will rather go without +the object he covets, than procure it in a state of imperfection. +In aristocracies, then, the handicraftsmen work for only a +limited number of very fastidious customers: the profit they hope +to make depends principally on the perfection of their +workmanship. + +Such is no longer the case when, all privileges being +abolished, ranks are intermingled, and men are forever rising or +sinking upon the ladder of society. Amongst a democratic people +a number of citizens always exist whose patrimony is divided and +decreasing. They have contracted, under more prosperous +circumstances, certain wants, which remain after the means of +satisfying such wants are gone; and they are anxiously looking +out for some surreptitious method of providing for them. On the +other hand, there are always in democracies a large number of men +whose fortune is upon the increase, but whose desires grow much +faster than their fortunes: and who gloat upon the gifts of +wealth in anticipation, long before they have means to command +them. Such men eager to find some short cut to these +gratifications, already almost within their reach. From the +combination of these causes the result is, that in democracies +there are always a multitude of individuals whose wants are above +their means, and who are very willing to take up with imperfect +satisfaction rather than abandon the object of their desires. + +The artisan readily understands these passions, for he +himself partakes in them: in an aristocracy he would seek to sell +his workmanship at a high price to the few; he now conceives that +the more expeditious way of getting rich is to sell them at a low +price to all. But there are only two ways of lowering the price +of commodities. The first is to discover some better, shorter, +and more ingenious method of producing them: the second is to +manufacture a larger quantity of goods, nearly similar, but of +less value. Amongst a democratic population, all the intellectual +faculties of the workman are directed to these two objects: he +strives to invent methods which may enable him not only to work +better, but quicker and cheaper; or, if he cannot succeed in +that, to diminish the intrinsic qualities of the thing he makes, +without rendering it wholly unfit for the use for which it is +intended. When none but the wealthy had watches, they were +almost all very good ones: few are now made which are worth much, +but everybody has one in his pocket. Thus the democratic +principle not only tends to direct the human mind to the useful +arts, but it induces the artisan to produce with greater rapidity +a quantity of imperfect commodities, and the consumer to content +himself with these commodities. + +Not that in democracies the arts are incapable of producing +very commendable works, if such be required. This may +occasionally be the case, if customers appear who are ready to +pay for time and trouble. In this rivalry of every kind of +industry - in the midst of this immense competition and these +countless experiments, some excellent workmen are formed who +reach the utmost limits of their craft. But they have rarely an +opportunity of displaying what they can do; they are scrupulously +sparing of their powers; they remain in a state of accomplished +mediocrity, which condemns itself, and, though it be very well +able to shoot beyond the mark before it, aims only at what it +hits. In aristocracies, on the contrary, workmen always do all +they can; and when they stop, it is because they have reached the +limit of their attainments. + +When I arrive in a country where I find some of the finest +productions of the arts, I learn from this fact nothing of the +social condition or of the political constitution of the country. +But if I perceive that the productions of the arts are generally +of an inferior quality, very abundant and very cheap, I am +convinced that, amongst the people where this occurs, privilege +is on the decline, and that ranks are beginning to intermingle, +and will soon be confounded together. + +The handicraftsmen of democratic ages endeavor not only to +bring their useful productions within the reach of the whole +community, but they strive to give to all their commodities +attractive qualities which they do not in reality possess. In +the confusion of all ranks everyone hopes to appear what he is +not, and makes great exertions to succeed in this object. This +sentiment indeed, which is but too natural to the heart of man, +does not originate in the democratic principle; but that +principle applies it to material objects. To mimic virtue is of +every age; but the hypocrisy of luxury belongs more particularly +to the ages of democracy. + +To satisfy these new cravings of human vanity the arts have +recourse to every species of imposture: and these devices +sometimes go so far as to defeat their own purpose. Imitation +diamonds are now made which may be easily mistaken for real ones; +as soon as the art of fabricating false diamonds shall have +reached so high a degree of perfection that they cannot be +distinguished from real ones, it is probable that both one and +the other will be abandoned, and become mere pebbles again. + +This leads me to speak of those arts which are called the +fine arts, by way of distinction. I do not believe that it is a +necessary effect of a democratic social condition and of +democratic institutions to diminish the number of men who +cultivate the fine arts; but these causes exert a very powerful +influence on the manner in which these arts are cultivated. Many +of those who had already contracted a taste for the fine arts are +impoverished: on the other hand, many of those who are not yet +rich begin to conceive that taste, at least by imitation; and the +number of consumers increases, but opulent and fastidious +consumers become more scarce. Something analogous to what I have +already pointed out in the useful arts then takes place in the +fine arts; the productions of artists are more numerous, but the +merit of each production is diminished. No longer able to soar +to what is great, they cultivate what is pretty and elegant; and +appearance is more attended to than reality. In aristocracies a +few great pictures are produced; in democratic countries, a vast +number of insignificant ones. In the former, statues are raised +of bronze; in the latter, they are modelled in plaster. + +When I arrived for the first time at New York, by that part +of the Atlantic Ocean which is called the Narrows, I was +surprised to perceive along the shore, at some distance from the +city, a considerable number of little palaces of white marble, +several of which were built after the models of ancient +architecture. When I went the next day to inspect more closely +the building which had particularly attracted my notice, I found +that its walls were of whitewashed brick, and its columns of +painted wood. All the edifices which I had admired the night +before were of the same kind. + +The social condition and the institutions of democracy +impart, moreover, certain peculiar tendencies to all the +imitative arts, which it is easy to point out. They frequently +withdraw them from the delineation of the soul to fix them +exclusively on that of the body: and they substitute the +representation of motion and sensation for that of sentiment and +thought: in a word, they put the real in the place of the ideal. +I doubt whether Raphael studied the minutest intricacies of the +mechanism of the human body as thoroughly as the draughtsmen of +our own time. He did not attach the same importance to rigorous +accuracy on this point as they do, because he aspired to surpass +nature. He sought to make of man something which should be +superior to man, and to embellish beauty's self. David and his +scholars were, on the contrary, as good anatomists as they were +good painters. They wonderfully depicted the models which they +had before their eyes, but they rarely imagined anything beyond +them: they followed nature with fidelity: whilst Raphael sought +for something better than nature. They have left us an exact +portraiture of man; but he discloses in his works a glimpse of +the Divinity. This remark as to the manner of treating a subject +is no less applicable to the choice of it. The painters of the +Middle Ages generally sought far above themselves, and away from +their own time, for mighty subjects, which left to their +imagination an unbounded range. Our painters frequently employ +their talents in the exact imitation of the details of private +life, which they have always before their eyes; and they are +forever copying trivial objects, the originals of which are only +too abundant in nature. + + +Chapter XII: Why The Americans Raise Some Monuments So +Insignificant, And Others So Important + +I have just observed, that in democratic ages monuments of +the arts tend to become more numerous and less important. I now +hasten to point out the exception to this rule. In a democratic +community individuals are very powerless; but the State which +represents them all, and contains them all in its grasp, is very +powerful. Nowhere do citizens appear so insignificant as in a +democratic nation; nowhere does the nation itself appear greater, +or does the mind more easily take in a wide general survey of it. +In democratic communities the imagination is compressed when men +consider themselves; it expands indefinitely when they think of +the State. Hence it is that the same men who live on a small +scale in narrow dwellings, frequently aspire to gigantic splendor +in the erection of their public monuments. + +The Americans traced out the circuit of an immense city on +the site which they intended to make their capital, but which, up +to the present time, is hardly more densely peopled than +Pontoise, though, according to them, it will one day contain a +million of inhabitants. They have already rooted up trees for +ten miles round, lest they should interfere with the future +citizens of this imaginary metropolis. They have erected a +magnificent palace for Congress in the centre of the city, and +have given it the pompous name of the Capitol. The several +States of the Union are every day planning and erecting for +themselves prodigious undertakings, which would astonish the +engineers of the great European nations. Thus democracy not only +leads men to a vast number of inconsiderable productions; it also +leads them to raise some monuments on the largest scale: but +between these two extremes there is a blank. A few scattered +remains of enormous buildings can therefore teach us nothing of +the social condition and the institutions of the people by whom +they were raised. I may add, though the remark leads me to step +out of my subject, that they do not make us better acquainted +with its greatness, its civilization, and its real prosperity. +Whensoever a power of any kind shall be able to make a whole +people co-operate in a single undertaking, that power, with a +little knowledge and a great deal of time, will succeed in +obtaining something enormous from the co-operation of efforts so +multiplied. But this does not lead to the conclusion that the +people was very happy, very enlightened, or even very strong. + +The Spaniards found the City of Mexico full of magnificent +temples and vast palaces; but that did not prevent Cortes from +conquering the Mexican Empire with 600 foot soldiers and sixteen +horses. If the Romans had been better acquainted with the laws +of hydraulics, they would not have constructed all the aqueducts +which surround the ruins of their cities - they would have made a +better use of their power and their wealth. If they had invented +the steam-engine, perhaps they would not have extended to the +extremities of their empire those long artificial roads which are +called Roman roads. These things are at once the splendid +memorials of their ignorance and of their greatness. A people +which should leave no other vestige of its track than a few +leaden pipes in the earth and a few iron rods upon its surface, +might have been more the master of nature than the Romans. + + +Book One - Chapters XIII-XV + +Chapter XIII: Literary Characteristics Of Democratic Ages + +When a traveller goes into a bookseller's shop in the United +States, and examines the American books upon the shelves, the +number of works appears extremely great; whilst that of known +authors appears, on the contrary, to be extremely small. He will +first meet with a number of elementary treatises, destined to +teach the rudiments of human knowledge. Most of these books are +written in Europe; the Americans reprint them, adapting them to +their own country. Next comes an enormous quantity of religious +works, Bibles, sermons, edifying anecdotes, controversial +divinity, and reports of charitable societies; lastly, appears +the long catalogue of political pamphlets. In America, parties +do not write books to combat each others' opinions, but pamphlets +which are circulated for a day with incredible rapidity, and then +expire. In the midst of all these obscure productions of the +human brain are to be found the more remarkable works of that +small number of authors, whose names are, or ought to be, known +to Europeans. + +Although America is perhaps in our days the civilized +country in which literature is least attended to, a large number +of persons are nevertheless to be found there who take an +interest in the productions of the mind, and who make them, if +not the study of their lives, at least the charm of their leisure +hours. But England supplies these readers with the larger +portion of the books which they require. Almost all important +English books are republished in the United States. The literary +genius of Great Britain still darts its rays into the recesses of +the forests of the New World. There is hardly a pioneer's hut +which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I +remember that I read the feudal play of Henry V for the first +time in a loghouse. + +Not only do the Americans constantly draw upon the treasures +of English literature, but it may be said with truth that they +find the literature of England growing on their own soil. The +larger part of that small number of men in the United States who +are engaged in the composition of literary works are English in +substance, and still more so in form. Thus they transport into +the midst of democracy the ideas and literary fashions which are +current amongst the aristocratic nation they have taken for their +model. They paint with colors borrowed from foreign manners; and +as they hardly ever represent the country they were born in as it +really is, they are seldom popular there. The citizens of the +United States are themselves so convinced that it is not for them +that books are published, that before they can make up their +minds upon the merit of one of their authors, they generally wait +till his fame has been ratified in England, just as in pictures +the author of an original is held to be entitled to judge of the +merit of a copy. The inhabitants of the United States have then +at present, properly speaking, no literature. The only authors +whom I acknowledge as American are the journalists. They indeed +are not great writers, but they speak the language of their +countrymen, and make themselves heard by them. Other authors are +aliens; they are to the Americans what the imitators of the +Greeks and Romans were to us at the revival of learning - an +object of curiosity, not of general sympathy. They amuse the +mind, but they do not act upon the manners of the people. + +I have already said that this state of things is very far +from originating in democracy alone, and that the causes of it +must be sought for in several peculiar circumstances independent +of the democratic principle. If the Americans, retaining the same +laws and social condition, had had a different origin, and had +been transported into another country, I do not question that +they would have had a literature. Even as they now are, I am +convinced that they will ultimately have one; but its character +will be different from that which marks the American literary +productions of our time, and that character will be peculiarly +its own. Nor is it impossible to trace this character +beforehand. + +I suppose an aristocratic people amongst whom letters are +cultivated; the labors of the mind, as well as the affairs of +state, are conducted by a ruling class in society. The literary +as well as the political career is almost entirely confined to +this class, or to those nearest to it in rank. These premises +suffice to give me a key to all the rest. When a small number of +the same men are engaged at the same time upon the same objects, +they easily concert with one another, and agree upon certain +leading rules which are to govern them each and all. If the +object which attracts the attention of these men is literature, +the productions of the mind will soon be subjected by them to +precise canons, from which it will no longer be allowable to +depart. If these men occupy a hereditary position in the +country, they will be naturally inclined, not only to adopt a +certain number of fixed rules for themselves, but to follow those +which their forefathers laid down for their own guidance; their +code will be at once strict and traditional. As they are not +necessarily engrossed by the cares of daily life - as they have +never been so, any more than their fathers were before them - +they have learned to take an interest, for several generations +back, in the labors of the mind. They have learned to understand +literature as an art, to love it in the end for its own sake, and +to feel a scholar-like satisfaction in seeing men conform to its +rules. Nor is this all: the men of whom I speak began and will +end their lives in easy or in affluent circumstances; hence they +have naturally conceived a taste for choice gratifications, and a +love of refined and delicate pleasures. Nay more, a kind of +indolence of mind and heart, which they frequently contract in +the midst of this long and peaceful enjoyment of so much welfare, +leads them to put aside, even from their pleasures, whatever +might be too startling or too acute. They had rather be amused +than intensely excited; they wish to be interested, but not to be +carried away. + +Now let us fancy a great number of literary performances +executed by the men, or for the men, whom I have just described, +and we shall readily conceive a style of literature in which +everything will be regular and prearranged. The slightest work +will be carefully touched in its least details; art and labor +will be conspicuous in everything; each kind of writing will have +rules of its own, from which it will not be allowed to swerve, +and which distinguish it from all others. Style will be thought +of almost as much importance as thought; and the form will be no +less considered than the matter: the diction will be polished, +measured, and uniform. The tone of the mind will be always +dignified, seldom very animated; and writers will care more to +perfect what they produce than to multiply their productions. It +will sometimes happen that the members of the literary class, +always living amongst themselves and writing for themselves +alone, will lose sight of the rest of the world, which will +infect them with a false and labored style; they will lay down +minute literary rules for their exclusive use, which will +insensibly lead them to deviate from common-sense, and finally to +transgress the bounds of nature. By dint of striving after a +mode of parlance different from the vulgar, they will arrive at a +sort of aristocratic jargon, which is hardly less remote from +pure language than is the coarse dialect of the people. Such are +the natural perils of literature amongst aristocracies. Every +aristocracy which keeps itself entirely aloof from the people +becomes impotent - a fact which is as true in literature as it is +in politics. *a + +[Footnote a: All this is especially true of the aristocratic +countries which have been long and peacefully subject to a +monarchical government. When liberty prevails in an aristocracy, +the higher ranks are constantly obliged to make use of the lower +classes; and when they use, they approach them. This frequently +introduces something of a democratic spirit into an aristocratic +community. There springs up, moreover, in a privileged body, +governing with energy and an habitually bold policy, a taste for +stir and excitement which must infallibly affect all literary +performances.] + +Let us now turn the picture and consider the other side of +it; let us transport ourselves into the midst of a democracy, not +unprepared by ancient traditions and present culture to partake +in the pleasures of the mind. Ranks are there intermingled and +confounded; knowledge and power are both infinitely subdivided, +and, if I may use the expression, scattered on every side. Here +then is a motley multitude, whose intellectual wants are to be +supplied. These new votaries of the pleasures of the mind have +not all received the same education; they do not possess the same +degree of culture as their fathers, nor any resemblance to them - +nay, they perpetually differ from themselves, for they live in a +state of incessant change of place, feelings, and fortunes. The +mind of each member of the community is therefore unattached to +that of his fellow-citizens by tradition or by common habits; and +they have never had the power, the inclination, nor the time to +concert together. It is, however, from the bosom of this +heterogeneous and agitated mass that authors spring; and from the +same source their profits and their fame are distributed. I can +without difficulty understand that, under these circumstances, I +must expect to meet in the literature of such a people with but +few of those strict conventional rules which are admitted by +readers and by writers in aristocratic ages. If it should happen +that the men of some one period were agreed upon any such rules, +that would prove nothing for the following period; for amongst +democratic nations each new generation is a new people. Amongst +such nations, then, literature will not easily be subjected to +strict rules, and it is impossible that any such rules should +ever be permanent. + +In democracies it is by no means the case that all the men +who cultivate literature have received a literary education; and +most of those who have some tinge of belles-lettres are either +engaged in politics, or in a profession which only allows them to +taste occasionally and by stealth the pleasures of the mind. +These pleasures, therefore, do not constitute the principal charm +of their lives; but they are considered as a transient and +necessary recreation amidst the serious labors of life. Such man +can never acquire a sufficiently intimate knowledge of the art of +literature to appreciate its more delicate beauties; and the +minor shades of expression must escape them. As the time they can +devote to letters is very short, they seek to make the best use +of the whole of it. They prefer books which may be easily +procured, quickly read, and which require no learned researches +to be understood. They ask for beauties, self-proffered and +easily enjoyed; above all, they must have what is unexpected and +new. Accustomed to the struggle, the crosses, and the monotony +of practical life, they require rapid emotions, startling +passages -truths or errors brilliant enough to rouse them up, and +to plunge them at once, as if by violence, into the midst of a +subject. + +Why should I say more? or who does not understand what is +about to follow, before I have expressed it? Taken as a whole, +literature in democratic ages can never present, as it does in +the periods of aristocracy, an aspect of order, regularity, +science, and art; its form will, on the contrary, ordinarily be +slighted, sometimes despised. Style will frequently be +fantastic, incorrect, overburdened, and loose - almost always +vehement and bold. Authors will aim at rapidity of execution, +more than at perfection of detail. Small productions will be +more common than bulky books; there will be more wit than +erudition, more imagination than profundity; and literary +performances will bear marks of an untutored and rude vigor of +thought -frequently of great variety and singular fecundity. The +object of authors will be to astonish rather than to please, and +to stir the passions more than to charm the taste. Here and +there, indeed, writers will doubtless occur who will choose a +different track, and who will, if they are gifted with superior +abilities, succeed in finding readers, in spite of their defects +or their better qualities; but these exceptions will be rare, and +even the authors who shall so depart from the received practice +in the main subject of their works, will always relapse into it +in some lesser details. + +I have just depicted two extreme conditions: the transition +by which a nation passes from the former to the latter is not +sudden but gradual, and marked with shades of very various +intensity. In the passage which conducts a lettered people from +the one to the other, there is almost always a moment at which +the literary genius of democratic nations has its confluence with +that of aristocracies, and both seek to establish their joint +sway over the human mind. Such epochs are transient, but very +brilliant: they are fertile without exuberance, and animated +without confusion. The French literature of the eighteenth +century may serve as an example. + +I should say more than I mean if I were to assert that the +literature of a nation is always subordinate to its social +condition and its political constitution. I am aware that, +independently of these causes, there are several others which +confer certain characteristics on literary productions; but these +appear to me to be the chief. The relations which exist between +the social and political condition of a people and the genius of +its authors are always very numerous: whoever knows the one is +never completely ignorant of the other. + +Chapter XIV: The Trade Of Literature + +Democracy not only infuses a taste for letters among the +trading classes, but introduces a trading spirit into literature. +In aristocracies, readers are fastidious and few in number; in +democracies, they are far more numerous and far less difficult to +please. The consequence is, that among aristocratic nations, no +one can hope to succeed without immense exertions, and that these +exertions may bestow a great deal of fame, but can never earn +much money; whilst among democratic nations, a writer may flatter +himself that he will obtain at a cheap rate a meagre reputation +and a large fortune. For this purpose he need not be admired; it +is enough that he is liked. The ever-increasing crowd of +readers, and their continual craving for something new, insure +the sale of books which nobody much esteems. + +In democratic periods the public frequently treat authors as +kings do their courtiers; they enrich, and they despise them. +What more is needed by the venal souls which are born in courts, +or which are worthy to live there? Democratic literature is +always infested with a tribe of writers who look upon letters as +a mere trade: and for some few great authors who adorn it you may +reckon thousands of idea-mongers. + +Chapter XV: The Study Of Greek And Latin Literature Peculiarly +Useful In Democratic Communities + +What was called the People in the most democratic republics +of antiquity, was very unlike what we designate by that term. In +Athens, all the citizens took part in public affairs; but there +were only 20,000 citizens to more than 350,000 inhabitants. All +the rest were slaves, and discharged the greater part of those +duties which belong at the present day to the lower or even to +the middle classes. Athens, then, with her universal suffrage, +was after all merely an aristocratic republic in which all the +nobles had an equal right to the government. The struggle +between the patricians and plebeians of Rome must be considered +in the same light: it was simply an intestine feud between the +elder and younger branches of the same family. All the citizens +belonged, in fact, to the aristocracy, and partook of its +character. + +It is moreover to be remarked, that amongst the ancients +books were always scarce and dear; and that very great +difficulties impeded their publication and circulation. These +circumstances concentrated literary tastes and habits amongst a +small number of men, who formed a small literary aristocracy out +of the choicer spirits of the great political aristocracy. +Accordingly nothing goes to prove that literature was ever +treated as a trade amongst the Greeks and Romans. + +These peoples, which not only constituted aristocracies, but +very polished and free nations, of course imparted to their +literary productions the defects and the merits which +characterize the literature of aristocratic ages. And indeed a +very superficial survey of the literary remains of the ancients +will suffice to convince us, that if those writers were sometimes +deficient in variety, or fertility in their subjects, or in +boldness, vivacity, or power of generalization in their thoughts, +they always displayed exquisite care and skill in their details. +Nothing in their works seems to be done hastily or at random: +every line is written for the eye of the connoisseur, and is +shaped after some conception of ideal beauty. No literature +places those fine qualities, in which the writers of democracies +are naturally deficient, in bolder relief than that of the +ancients; no literature, therefore, ought to be more studied in +democratic ages. This study is better suited than any other to +combat the literary defects inherent in those ages; as for their +more praiseworthy literary qualities, they will spring up of +their own accord, without its being necessary to learn to acquire +them. + +It is important that this point should be clearly +understood. A particular study may be useful to the literature +of a people, without being appropriate to its social and +political wants. If men were to persist in teaching nothing but +the literature of the dead languages in a community where +everyone is habitually led to make vehement exertions to augment +or to maintain his fortune, the result would be a very polished, +but a very dangerous, race of citizens. For as their social and +political condition would give them every day a sense of wants +which their education would never teach them to supply, they +would perturb the State, in the name of the Greeks and Romans, +instead of enriching it by their productive industry. + +It is evident that in democratic communities the interest of +individuals, as well as the security of the commonwealth, demands +that the education of the greater number should be scientific, +commercial, and industrial, rather than literary. Greek and +Latin should not be taught in all schools; but it is important +that those who by their natural disposition or their fortune are +destined to cultivate letters or prepared to relish them, should +find schools where a complete knowledge of ancient literature may +be acquired, and where the true scholar may be formed. A few +excellent universities would do more towards the attainment of +this object than a vast number of bad grammar schools, where +superfluous matters, badly learned, stand in the way of sound +instruction in necessary studies. + +All who aspire to literary excellence in democratic nations, +ought frequently to refresh themselves at the springs of ancient +literature: there is no more wholesome course for the mind. Not +that I hold the literary productions of the ancients to be +irreproachable; but I think that they have some especial merits, +admirably calculated to counterbalance our peculiar defects. +They are a prop on the side on which we are in most danger of +falling. + +Book One - Chapters XVI-XVIII + +Chapter XVI: The Effect Of Democracy On Language + +If the reader has rightly understood what I have already +said on the subject of literature in general, he will have no +difficulty in comprehending that species of influence which a +democratic social condition and democratic institutions may +exercise over language itself, which is the chief instrument of +thought. + +American authors may truly be said to live more in England +than in their own country; since they constantly study the +English writers, and take them every day for their models. But +such is not the case with the bulk of the population, which is +more immediately subjected to the peculiar causes acting upon the +United States. It is not then to the written, but to the spoken +language that attention must be paid, if we would detect the +modifications which the idiom of an aristocratic people may +undergo when it becomes the language of a democracy. + +Englishmen of education, and more competent judges than I +can be myself of the nicer shades of expression, have frequently +assured me that the language of the educated classes in the +United States is notably different from that of the educated +classes in Great Britain. They complain not only that the +Americans have brought into use a number of new words - the +difference and the distance between the two countries might +suffice to explain that much - but that these new words are more +especially taken from the jargon of parties, the mechanical arts, +or the language of trade. They assert, in addition to this, that +old English words are often used by the Americans in new +acceptations; and lastly, that the inhabitants of the United +States frequently intermingle their phraseology in the strangest +manner, and sometimes place words together which are always kept +apart in the language of the mother- country. These remarks, +which were made to me at various times by persons who appeared to +be worthy of credit, led me to reflect upon the subject; and my +reflections brought me, by theoretical reasoning, to the same +point at which my informants had arrived by practical +observation. + +In aristocracies, language must naturally partake of that +state of repose in which everything remains. Few new words are +coined, because few new things are made; and even if new things +were made, they would be designated by known words, whose meaning +has been determined by tradition. If it happens that the human +mind bestirs itself at length, or is roused by light breaking in +from without, the novel expressions which are introduced are +characterized by a degree of learning, intelligence, and +philosophy, which shows that they do not originate in a +democracy. After the fall of Constantinople had turned the tide +of science and literature towards the west, the French language +was almost immediately invaded by a multitude of new words, which +had all Greek or Latin roots. An erudite neologism then sprang +up in France which was confined to the educated classes, and +which produced no sensible effect, or at least a very gradual +one, upon the people. All the nations of Europe successively +exhibited the same change. Milton alone introduced more than six +hundred words into the English language, almost all derived from +the Latin, the Greek, or the Hebrew. The constant agitation +which prevails in a democratic community tends unceasingly, on +the contrary, to change the character of the language, as it does +the aspect of affairs. In the midst of this general stir and +competition of minds, a great number of new ideas are formed, old +ideas are lost, or reappear, or are subdivided into an infinite +variety of minor shades. The consequence is, that many words +must fall into desuetude, and others must be brought into use. + +Democratic nations love change for its own sake; and this is +seen in their language as much as in their politics. Even when +they do not need to change words, they sometimes feel a wish to +transform them. The genius of a democratic people is not only +shown by the great number of words they bring into use, but also +by the nature of the ideas these new words represent. Amongst +such a people the majority lays down the law in language as well +as in everything else; its prevailing spirit is as manifest in +that as in other respects. But the majority is more engaged in +business than in study - in political and commercial interests +than in philosophical speculation or literary pursuits. Most of +the words coined or adopted for its use will therefore bear the +mark of these habits; they will mainly serve to express the wants +of business, the passions of party, or the details of the public +administration. In these departments the language will +constantly spread, whilst on the other hand it will gradually +lose ground in metaphysics and theology. + +As to the source from which democratic nations are wont to +derive their new expressions, and the manner in which they go to +work to coin them, both may easily be described. Men living in +democratic countries know but little of the language which was +spoken at Athens and at Rome, and they do not care to dive into +the lore of antiquity to find the expression they happen to want. +If they have sometimes recourse to learned etymologies, vanity +will induce them to search at the roots of the dead languages; +but erudition does not naturally furnish them with its resources. +The most ignorant, it sometimes happens, will use them most. The +eminently democratic desire to get above their own sphere will +often lead them to seek to dignify a vulgar profession by a Greek +or Latin name. The lower the calling is, and the more remote +from learning, the more pompous and erudite is its appellation. +Thus the French rope-dancers have transformed themselves into +acrobates and funambules. + +In the absence of knowledge of the dead languages, +democratic nations are apt to borrow words from living tongues; +for their mutual intercourse becomes perpetual, and the +inhabitants of different countries imitate each other the more +readily as they grow more like each other every day. + +But it is principally upon their own languages that +democratic nations attempt to perpetrate innovations. From time +to time they resume forgotten expressions in their vocabulary, +which they restore to use; or they borrow from some particular +class of the community a term peculiar to it, which they +introduce with a figurative meaning into the language of daily +life. Many expressions which originally belonged to the +technical language of a profession or a party, are thus drawn +into general circulation. + +The most common expedient employed by democratic nations to +make an innovation in language consists in giving some unwonted +meaning to an expression already in use. This method is very +simple, prompt, and convenient; no learning is required to use it +aright, and ignorance itself rather facilitates the practice; but +that practice is most dangerous to the language. When a +democratic people doubles the meaning of a word in this way, they +sometimes render the signification which it retains as ambiguous +as that which it acquires. An author begins by a slight +deflection of a known expression from its primitive meaning, and +he adapts it, thus modified, as well as he can to his subject. A +second writer twists the sense of the expression in another way; +a third takes possession of it for another purpose; and as there +is no common appeal to the sentence of a permanent tribunal which +may definitely settle the signification of the word, it remains +in an ambiguous condition. The consequence is that writers +hardly ever appear to dwell upon a single thought, but they +always seem to point their aim at a knot of ideas, leaving the +reader to judge which of them has been hit. This is a deplorable +consequence of democracy. I had rather that the language should +be made hideous with words imported from the Chinese, the +Tartars, or the Hurons, than that the meaning of a word in our +own language should become indeterminate. Harmony and uniformity +are only secondary beauties in composition; many of these things +are conventional, and, strictly speaking, it is possible to +forego them; but without clear phraseology there is no good +language. + +The principle of equality necessarily introduces several +other changes into language. In aristocratic ages, when each +nation tends to stand aloof from all others and likes to have +distinct characteristics of its own, it often happens that +several peoples which have a common origin become nevertheless +estranged from each other, so that, without ceasing to understand +the same language, they no longer all speak it in the same +manner. In these ages each nation is divided into a certain +number of classes, which see but little of each other, and do not +intermingle. Each of these classes contracts, and invariably +retains, habits of mind peculiar to itself, and adopts by choice +certain words and certain terms, which afterwards pass from +generation to generation, like their estates. The same idiom +then comprises a language of the poor and a language of the rich +- a language of the citizen and a language of the nobility - a +learned language and a vulgar one. The deeper the divisions, and +the more impassable the barriers of society become, the more must +this be the case. I would lay a wager, that amongst the castes +of India there are amazing variations of language, and that there +is almost as much difference between the language of the pariah +and that of the Brahmin as there is in their dress. When, on the +contrary, men, being no longer restrained by ranks, meet on terms +of constant intercourse - when castes are destroyed, and the +classes of society are recruited and intermixed with each other, +all the words of a language are mingled. Those which are +unsuitable to the greater number perish; the remainder form a +common store, whence everyone chooses pretty nearly at random. +Almost all the different dialects which divided the idioms of +European nations are manifestly declining; there is no patois in +the New World, and it is disappearing every day from the old +countries. + +The influence of this revolution in social conditions is as +much felt in style as it is in phraseology. Not only does +everyone use the same words, but a habit springs up of using them +without discrimination. The rules which style had set up are +almost abolished: the line ceases to be drawn between expressions +which seem by their very nature vulgar, and other which appear to +be refined. Persons springing from different ranks of society +carry the terms and expressions they are accustomed to use with +them, into whatever circumstances they may pass; thus the origin +of words is lost like the origin of individuals, and there is as +much confusion in language as there is in society. + +I am aware that in the classification of words there are +rules which do not belong to one form of society any more than to +another, but which are derived from the nature of things. Some +expressions and phrases are vulgar, because the ideas they are +meant to express are low in themselves; others are of a higher +character, because the objects they are intended to designate are +naturally elevated. No intermixture of ranks will ever efface +these differences. But the principle of equality cannot fail to +root out whatever is merely conventional and arbitrary in the +forms of thought. Perhaps the necessary classification which I +pointed out in the last sentence will always be less respected by +a democratic people than by any other, because amongst such a +people there are no men who are permanently disposed by +education, culture, and leisure to study the natural laws of +language, and who cause those laws to be respected by their own +observance of them. + +I shall not quit this topic without touching on a feature of +democratic languages, which is perhaps more characteristic of +them than any other. It has already been shown that democratic +nations have a taste, and sometimes a passion, for general ideas, +and that this arises from their peculiar merits and defects. +This liking for general ideas is displayed in democratic +languages by the continual use of generic terms or abstract +expressions, and by the manner in which they are employed. This +is the great merit and the great imperfection of these languages. +Democratic nations are passionately addicted to generic terms or +abstract expressions, because these modes of speech enlarge +thought, and assist the operations of the mind by enabling it to +include several objects in a small compass. A French democratic +writer will be apt to say capacites in the abstract for men of +capacity, and without particularizing the objects to which their +capacity is applied: he will talk about actualites to designate +in one word the things passing before his eyes at the instant; +and he will comprehend under the term eventualites whatever may +happen in the universe, dating from the moment at which he +speaks. Democratic writers are perpetually coining words of this +kind, in which they sublimate into further abstraction the +abstract terms of the language. Nay, more, to render their mode +of speech more succinct, they personify the subject of these +abstract terms, and make it act like a real entity. Thus they +would say in French, "La force des choses veut que les capacites +gouvernent." + +I cannot better illustrate what I mean than by my own +example. I have frequently used the word "equality" in an +absolute sense - nay, I have personified equality in several +places; thus I have said that equality does such and such things, +or refrains from doing others. It may be affirmed that the +writers of the age of Louis XIV would not have used these +expressions: they would never have thought of using the word +"equality" without applying it to some particular object; and +they would rather have renounced the term altogether than have +consented to make a living personage of it. + +These abstract terms which abound in democratic languages, +and which are used on every occasion without attaching them to +any particular fact, enlarge and obscure the thoughts they are +intended to convey; they render the mode of speech more succinct, +and the idea contained in it less clear. But with regard to +language, democratic nations prefer obscurity to labor. I know +not indeed whether this loose style has not some secret charm for +those who speak and write amongst these nations. As the men who +live there are frequently left to the efforts of their individual +powers of mind, they are almost always a prey to doubt; and as +their situation in life is forever changing, they are never held +fast to any of their opinions by the certain tenure of their +fortunes. Men living in democratic countries are, then, apt to +entertain unsettled ideas, and they require loose expressions to +convey them. As they never know whether the idea they express +to-day will be appropriate to the new position they may occupy +to-morrow, they naturally acquire a liking for abstract terms. +An abstract term is like a box with a false bottom: you may put +in it what ideas you please, and take them out again without +being observed. + +Amongst all nations, generic and abstract terms form the +basis of language. I do not, therefore, affect to expel these +terms from democratic languages; I simply remark that men have an +especial tendency, in the ages of democracy, to multiply words of +this kind - to take them always by themselves in their most +abstract acceptation, and to use them on all occasions, even when +the nature of the discourse does not require them. + +Chapter XVII: Of Some Of The Sources Of Poetry Amongst Democratic +Nations + +Various different significations have been given to the word +"poetry." It would weary my readers if I were to lead them into a +discussion as to which of these definitions ought to be selected: +I prefer telling them at once that which I have chosen. In my +opinion, poetry is the search and the delineation of the ideal. +The poet is he who, by suppressing a part of what exists, by +adding some imaginary touches to the picture, and by combining +certain real circumstances, but which do not in fact concurrently +happen, completes and extends the work of nature. Thus the +object of poetry is not to represent what is true, but to adorn +it, and to present to the mind some loftier imagery. Verse, +regarded as the ideal beauty of language, may be eminently +poetical; but verse does not, of itself, constitute poetry. + +I now proceed to inquire whether, amongst the actions, the +sentiments, and the opinions of democratic nations, there are any +which lead to a conception of ideal beauty, and which may for +this reason be considered as natural sources of poetry. It must +in the first place, be acknowledged that the taste for ideal +beauty, and the pleasure derived from the expression of it, are +never so intense or so diffused amongst a democratic as amongst +an aristocratic people. In aristocratic nations it sometimes +happens that the body goes on to act as it were spontaneously, +whilst the higher faculties are bound and burdened by repose. +Amongst these nations the people will very often display poetic +tastes, and sometimes allow their fancy to range beyond and above +what surrounds them. But in democracies the love of physical +gratification, the notion of bettering one's condition, the +excitement of competition, the charm of anticipated success, are +so many spurs to urge men onwards in the active professions they +have embraced, without allowing them to deviate for an instant +from the track. The main stress of the faculties is to this +point. The imagination is not extinct; but its chief function is +to devise what may be useful, and to represent what is real. + +The principle of equality not only diverts men from the +description of ideal beauty - it also diminishes the number of +objects to be described. Aristocracy, by maintaining society in a +fixed position, is favorable to the solidity and duration of +positive religions, as well as to the stability of political +institutions. It not only keeps the human mind within a certain +sphere of belief, but it predisposes the mind to adopt one faith +rather than another. An aristocratic people will always be prone +to place intermediate powers between God and man. In this +respect it may be said that the aristocratic element is favorable +to poetry. When the universe is peopled with supernatural +creatures, not palpable to the senses but discovered by the mind, +the imagination ranges freely, and poets, finding a thousand +subjects to delineate, also find a countless audience to take an +interest in their productions. In democratic ages it sometimes +happens, on the contrary, that men are as much afloat in matters +of belief as they are in their laws. Scepticism then draws the +imagination of poets back to earth, and confines them to the real +and visible world. Even when the principle of equality does not +disturb religious belief, it tends to simplify it, and to divert +attention from secondary agents, to fix it principally on the +Supreme Power. Aristocracy naturally leads the human mind to the +contemplation of the past, and fixes it there. Democracy, on the +contrary, gives men a sort of instinctive distaste for what is +ancient. In this respect aristocracy is far more favorable to +poetry; for things commonly grow larger and more obscure as they +are more remote; and for this twofold reason they are better +suited to the delineation of the ideal. + +After having deprived poetry of the past, the principle of +equality robs it in part of the present. Amongst aristocratic +nations there are a certain number of privileged personages, +whose situation is, as it were, without and above the condition +of man; to these, power, wealth, fame, wit, refinement, and +distinction in all things appear peculiarly to belong. The crowd +never sees them very closely, or does not watch them in minute +details; and little is needed to make the description of such men +poetical. On the other hand, amongst the same people, you will +meet with classes so ignorant, low, and enslaved, that they are +no less fit objects for poetry from the excess of their rudeness +and wretchedness, than the former are from their greatness and +refinement. Besides, as the different classes of which an +aristocratic community is composed are widely separated, and +imperfectly acquainted with each other, the imagination may +always represent them with some addition to, or some subtraction +from, what they really are. In democratic communities, where men +are all insignificant and very much alike, each man instantly +sees all his fellows when he surveys himself. The poets of +democratic ages can never, therefore, take any man in particular +as the subject of a piece; for an object of slender importance, +which is distinctly seen on all sides, will never lend itself to +an ideal conception. Thus the principle of equality; in +proportion as it has established itself in the world, has dried +up most of the old springs of poetry. Let us now attempt to show +what new ones it may disclose. + +When scepticism had depopulated heaven, and the progress of +equality had reduced each individual to smaller and better known +proportions, the poets, not yet aware of what they could +substitute for the great themes which were departing together +with the aristocracy, turned their eyes to inanimate nature. As +they lost sight of gods and heroes, they set themselves to +describe streams and mountains. Thence originated in the last +century, that kind of poetry which has been called, by way of +distinction, the +descriptive. Some have thought that this sort of delineation, +embellished with all the physical and inanimate objects which +cover the earth, was the kind of poetry peculiar to democratic +ages; but I believe this to be an error, and that it only belongs +to a period of transition. + +I am persuaded that in the end democracy diverts the +imagination from all that is external to man, and fixes it on man +alone. Democratic nations may amuse themselves for a while with +considering the productions of nature; but they are only excited +in reality by a survey of themselves. Here, and here alone, the +true sources of poetry amongst such nations are to be found; and +it may be believed that the poets who shall neglect to draw their +inspirations hence, will lose all sway over the minds which they +would enchant, and will be left in the end with none but +unimpassioned spectators of their transports. I have shown how +the ideas of progression and of the indefinite perfectibility of +the human race belong to democratic ages. Democratic nations care +but little for what has been, but they are haunted by visions of +what will be; in this direction their unbounded imagination grows +and dilates beyond all measure. Here then is the wildest range +open to the genius of poets, which allows them to remove their +performances to a sufficient distance from the eye. Democracy +shuts the past against the poet, but opens the future before him. +As all the citizens who compose a democratic community are nearly +equal and alike, the poet cannot dwell upon any one of them; but +the nation itself invites the exercise of his powers. The general +similitude of individuals, which renders any one of them taken +separately an improper subject of poetry, allows poets to include +them all in the same imagery, and to take a general survey of the +people itself. Democractic nations have a clearer perception than +any others of their own aspect; and an aspect so imposing is +admirably fitted to the delineation of the ideal. + +I readily admit that the Americans have no poets; I cannot +allow that they have no poetic ideas. In Europe people talk a +great deal of the wilds of America, but the Americans themselves +never think about them: they are insensible to the wonders of +inanimate nature, and they may be said not to perceive the mighty +forests which surround them till they fall beneath the hatchet. +Their eyes are fixed upon another sight: the American people +views its own march across these wilds - drying swamps, turning +the course of rivers, peopling solitudes, and subduing nature. +This magnificent image of themselves does not meet the gaze of +the Americans at intervals only; it may be said to haunt every +one of them in his least as well as in his most important +actions, and to be always flitting before his mind. Nothing +conceivable is so petty, so insipid, so crowded with paltry +interests, in one word so anti-poetic, as the life of a man in +the United States. But amongst the thoughts which it suggests +there is always one which is full of poetry, and that is the +hidden nerve which gives vigor to the frame. + +In aristocratic ages each people, as well as each +individual, is prone to stand separate and aloof from all others. +In democratic ages, the extreme fluctuations of men and the +impatience of their desires keep them perpetually on the move; so +that the inhabitants of different countries intermingle, see, +listen to, and borrow from each other's stores. It is not only +then the members of the same community who grow more alike; +communities are themselves assimilated to one another, and the +whole assemblage presents to the eye of the spectator one vast +democracy, each citizen of which is a people. This displays the +aspect of mankind for the first time in the broadest light. All +that belongs to the existence of the human race taken as a whole, +to its vicissitudes and to its future, becomes an abundant mine +of poetry. The poets who lived in aristocratic ages have been +eminently successful in their delineations of certain incidents +in the life of a people or a man; but none of them ever ventured +to include within his performances the destinies of mankind - a +task which poets writing in democratic ages may attempt. At that +same time at which every man, raising his eyes above his country, +begins at length to discern mankind at large, the Divinity is +more and more manifest to the human mind in full and entire +majesty. If in democratic ages faith in positive religions be +often shaken, and the belief in intermediate agents, by whatever +name they are called, be overcast; on the other hand men are +disposed to conceive a far broader idea of Providence itself, and +its interference in human affairs assumes a new and more imposing +appearance to their eyes. Looking at the human race as one great +whole, they easily conceive that its destinies are regulated by +the same design; and in the actions of every individual they are +led to acknowledge a trace of that universal and eternal plan on +which God rules our race. This consideration may be taken as +another prolific source of poetry which is opened in democratic +ages. Democratic poets will always appear trivial and frigid if +they seek to invest gods, demons, or angels, with corporeal +forms, and if they attempt to draw them down from heaven to +dispute the supremacy of earth. But if they strive to connect the +great events they commemorate with the general providential +designs which govern the universe, and, without showing the +finger of the Supreme Governor, reveal the thoughts of the +Supreme Mind, their works will be admired and understood, for the +imagination of their contemporaries takes this direction of its +own accord. + +It may be foreseen in the like manner that poets living in +democratic ages will prefer the delineation of passions and ideas +to that of persons and achievements. The language, the dress, +and the daily actions of men in democracies are repugnant to +ideal conceptions. These things are not poetical in themselves; +and, if it were otherwise, they would cease to be so, because +they are too familiar to all those to whom the poet would speak +of them. This forces the poet constantly to search below the +external surface which is palpable to the senses, in order to +read the inner soul: and nothing lends itself more to the +delineation of the ideal than the scrutiny of the hidden depths +in the immaterial nature of man. I need not to ramble over earth +and sky to discover a wondrous object woven of contrasts, of +greatness and littleness infinite, of intense gloom and of +amazing brightness - capable at once of exciting pity, +admiration, terror, contempt. I find that object in myself. Man +springs out of nothing, crosses time, and disappears forever in +the bosom of God; he is seen but for a moment, +staggering on the verge of the two abysses, and there he is lost. +If man were wholly ignorant of himself, he would have no poetry +in him; for it is impossible to describe what the mind does not +conceive. If man clearly discerned his own nature, his +imagination would remain idle, and would have nothing to add to +the picture. But the nature of man is sufficiently disclosed for +him to apprehend something of himself; and sufficiently obscure +for all the rest to be plunged in thick darkness, in which he +gropes forever - and forever in vain - to lay hold on some +completer notion of his being. + +Amongst a democratic people poetry will not be fed with +legendary lays or the memorials of old traditions. The poet will +not attempt to people the universe with supernatural beings in +whom his readers and his own fancy have ceased to believe; nor +will he present virtues and vices in the mask of frigid +personification, which are better received under their own +features. All these resources fail him; but Man remains, and the +poet needs no more. The destinies of mankind - man himself, taken +aloof from his age and his country, and standing in the presence +of Nature and of God, with his passions, his doubts, his rare +prosperities, and inconceivable wretchedness - will become the +chief, if not the sole theme of poetry amongst these nations. +Experience may confirm this assertion, if we consider the +productions of the greatest poets who have appeared since the +world has been turned to democracy. The authors of our age who +have so admirably delineated the features of Faust, Childe +Harold, Rene, and Jocelyn, did not seek to record the actions of +an individual, but to enlarge and to throw light on some of the +obscurer recesses of the human heart. Such are the poems of +democracy. The principle of equality does not then destroy all +the subjects of poetry: it renders them less numerous, but more +vast. + +Chapter XVIII: Of The Inflated Style Of American Writers And +Orators + +I have frequently remarked that the Americans, who generally +treat of business in clear, plain language, devoid of all +ornament, and so extremely simple as to be often coarse, are apt +to become inflated as soon as they attempt a more poetical +diction. They then vent their pomposity from one end of a +harangue to the other; and to hear them lavish imagery on every +occasion, one might fancy that they never spoke of anything with +simplicity. The English are more rarely given to a similar +failing. The cause of this may be pointed out without much +difficulty. In democratic communities each citizen is habitually +engaged in the contemplation of a very puny object, namely +himself. If he ever raises his looks higher, he then perceives +nothing but the immense form of society at large, or the still +more imposing aspect of mankind. His ideas are all either +extremely minute and clear, or extremely general and vague: what +lies between is an open void. When he has been drawn out of his +own sphere, therefore, he always expects that some amazing object +will be offered to his attention; and it is on these terms alone +that he consents to tear himself for an instant from the petty +complicated cares which form the charm and the excitement of his +life. This appears to me sufficiently to explain why men in +democracies, whose concerns are in general so paltry, call upon +their poets for conceptions so vast and descriptions so +unlimited. + +The authors, on their part, do not fail to obey a propensity +of which they themselves partake; they perpetually inflate their +imaginations, and expanding them beyond all bounds, they not +unfrequently abandon the great in order to reach the gigantic. +By these means they hope to attract the observation of the +multitude, and to fix it easily upon themselves: nor are their +hopes +disappointed; for as the multitude seeks for nothing in poetry +but subjects of very vast dimensions, it has neither the time to +measure with accuracy the proportions of all the subjects set +before it, nor a taste sufficiently correct to perceive at once +in what respect they are out of proportion. The author and the +public at once vitiate one another. + +We have just seen that amongst democratic nations, the +sources of poetry are grand, but not abundant. They are soon +exhausted: and poets, not finding the elements of the ideal in +what is real and true, abandon them entirely and create monsters. +I do not fear that the poetry of democratic nations will prove +too insipid, or that it will fly too near the ground; I rather +apprehend that it will be forever losing itself in the clouds, +and that it will range at last to purely imaginary regions. I +fear that the productions of democratic poets may often be +surcharged with immense and incoherent imagery, with exaggerated +descriptions and strange creations; and that the fantastic beings +of their brain may sometimes make us regret the world of reality. + +Book One -Chapters XIX-XXI + + + +Chapter XIX: Some Observations On The Drama Amongst Democratic +Nations + +When the revolution which subverts the social and political +state of an aristocratic people begins to penetrate into +literature, it generally first manifests itself in the drama, and +it always remains conspicuous there. The spectator of a dramatic +piece is, to a certain extent, taken by surprise by the +impression it conveys. He has no time to refer to his memory, or +to consult those more able to judge than himself. It does not +occur to him to resist the new literary tendencies which begin to +be felt by him; he yields to them before he knows what they are. +Authors are very prompt in discovering which way the taste of the +public is thus secretly inclined. They shape their productions +accordingly; and the literature of the stage, after having served +to indicate the approaching literary revolution, speedily +completes its accomplishment. If you would judge beforehand of +the literature of a people which is lapsing into democracy, study +its dramatic productions. + +The literature of the stage, moreover, even amongst +aristocratic nations, constitutes the most democratic part of +their literature. No kind of literary gratification is so much +within the reach of the multitude as that which is derived from +theatrical representations. Neither preparation nor study is +required to enjoy them: they lay hold on you in the midst of your +prejudices and your ignorance. When the yet untutored love of +the pleasures of the mind begins to affect a class of the +community, it instantly draws them to the stage. The theatres of +aristocratic nations have always been filled with spectators not +belonging to the aristocracy. At the theatre alone the higher +ranks mix with the middle and the lower classes; there alone do +the former consent to listen to the opinion of the latter, or at +least to allow them to give an opinion at all. At the theatre, +men of cultivation and of literary attainments have always had +more difficulty than elsewhere in making their taste prevail over +that of the people, and in preventing themselves from being +carried away by the latter. The pit has frequently made laws for +the boxes. + +If it be difficult for an aristocracy to prevent the people +from getting the upper hand in the theatre, it will readily be +understood that the people will be supreme there when democratic +principles have crept into the laws and manners - when ranks are +intermixed - when minds, as well as fortunes, are brought more +nearly together - and when the upper class has lost, with its +hereditary wealth, its power, its precedents, and its leisure. +The tastes and propensities natural to democratic nations, in +respect to literature, will therefore first be discernible in the +drama, and it may be foreseen that they will break out there with +vehemence. In written productions, the literary canons of +aristocracy will be gently, gradually, and, so to speak, legally +modified; at the theatre they will be riotously overthrown. +The drama brings out most of the good qualities, and almost +all the defects, inherent in democratic literature. Democratic +peoples hold erudition very cheap, and care but little for what +occurred at Rome and Athens; they want to hear something which +concerns themselves, and the delineation of the present age is +what they demand. + +When the heroes and the manners of antiquity are frequently +brought upon the stage, and dramatic authors faithfully observe +the rules of antiquated precedent, that is enough to warrant a +conclusion that the democratic classes have not yet got the upper +hand of the theatres. Racine makes a very humble apology in the +preface to the "Britannicus" for having disposed of Junia amongst +the Vestals, who, according to Aulus Gellius, he says, "admitted +no one below six years of age nor above ten." We may be sure that +he would neither have accused himself of the offence, nor +defended himself from censure, if he had written for our +contemporaries. A fact of this kind not only illustrates the +state of literature at the time when it occurred, but also that +of society itself. A democratic stage does not prove that the +nation is in a state of democracy, for, as we have just seen, +even in aristocracies it may happen that democratic tastes affect +the drama; but when the spirit of aristocracy reigns exclusively +on the stage, the fact irrefragably demonstrates that the whole +of society is aristocratic; and it may be boldly inferred that +the same lettered and learned class which sways the dramatic +writers commands the people and governs the country. + +The refined tastes and the arrogant bearing of an +aristocracy will rarely fail to lead it, when it manages the +stage, to make a kind of selection in human nature. Some of the +conditions of society claim its chief interest; and the scenes +which delineate their manners are preferred upon the stage. +Certain virtues, and even certain vices, are thought more +particularly to deserve to figure there; and they are applauded +whilst all others are excluded. Upon the stage, as well as +elsewhere, an aristocratic audience will only meet personages of +quality, and share the emotions of kings. The same thing applies +to style: an aristocracy is apt to impose upon dramatic authors +certain modes of expression which give the key in which +everything is to be delivered. By these means the stage +frequently comes to delineate only one side of man, or sometimes +even to represent what is not to be met with in human nature at +all - to rise above nature and to go beyond it. + +In democratic communities the spectators have no such +partialities, and they rarely display any such antipathies: they +like to see upon the stage that medley of conditions, of +feelings, and of opinions, which occurs before their eyes. The +drama becomes more striking, more common, and more true. +Sometimes, however, those who write for the stage in democracies +also transgress the bounds of human nature - but it is on a +different side from their predecessors. By seeking to represent +in minute detail the little singularities of the moment and the +peculiar characteristics of certain personages, they forget to +portray the general features of the race. + +When the democratic classes rule the stage, they introduce +as much license in the manner of treating subjects as in the +choice of them. As the love of the drama is, of all literary +tastes, that which is most natural to democratic nations, the +number of authors and of spectators, as well as of theatrical +representations, is constantly increasing amongst these +communities. A multitude composed of elements so different, and +scattered in so many different places, cannot acknowledge the +same rules or submit to the same laws. No concurrence is +possible amongst judges so numerous, who know not when they may +meet again; and therefore each pronounces his own sentence on the +piece. If the effect of democracy is generally to question the +authority of all literary rules and conventions, on the stage it +abolishes them altogether, and puts in their place nothing but +the whim of each author and of each public. + +The drama also displays in an especial manner the truth of +what I have said before in speaking more generally of style and +art in democratic literature. In reading the criticisms which +were occasioned by the dramatic productions of the age of Louis +XIV, one is surprised to remark the great stress which the public +laid on the probability of the plot, and the importance which was +attached to the perfect consistency of the characters, and to +their doing nothing which could not be easily explained and +understood. The value which was set upon the forms of language at +that period, and the paltry strife about words with which +dramatic authors were assailed, are no less surprising. It would +seem that the men of the age of Louis XIV attached very +exaggerated importance to those details, which may be perceived +in the study, but which escape attention on the stage. For, +after all, the principal object of a dramatic piece is to be +performed, and its chief merit is to affect the audience. But +the audience and the readers in that age were the same: on +quitting the theatre they called up the author for judgment to +their own firesides. In democracies, dramatic pieces are +listened to, but not read. Most of those who frequent the +amusements of the stage do not go there to seek the pleasures of +the mind, but the keen emotions of the heart. They do not expect +to hear a fine literary work, but to see a play; and provided the +author writes the language of his country correctly enough to be +understood, and that his characters excite curiosity and awaken +sympathy, the audience are satisfied. They ask no more of +fiction, and immediately return to real life. Accuracy of style +is therefore less required, because the attentive observance of +its rules is less perceptible on the stage. As for the +probability of the plot, it is incompatible with perpetual +novelty, surprise, and rapidity of invention. It is therefore +neglected, and the public excuses the neglect. You may be sure +that if you succeed in bringing your audience into the presence +of something that affects them, they will not care by what road +you brought them there; and they will never reproach you for +having excited their emotions in spite of dramatic rules. + +The Americans very broadly display all the different +propensities which I have here described when they go to the +theatres; but it must be acknowledged that as yet a very small +number of them go to theatres at all. Although playgoers and +plays have prodigiously increased in the United States in the +last forty years, the population indulges in this kind of +amusement with the greatest reserve. This is attributable to +peculiar causes, which the reader is already acquainted with, and +of which a few words will suffice to remind him. The Puritans +who founded the American republics were not only enemies to +amusements, but they professed an especial abhorrence for the +stage. They considered it as an abominable pastime; and as long +as their principles prevailed with undivided sway, scenic +performances were wholly unknown amongst them. These opinions of +the first fathers of the colony have left very deep marks on the +minds of their descendants. The extreme regularity of habits and +the great strictness of manners which are observable in the +United States, have as yet opposed additional obstacles to the +growth of dramatic art. There are no dramatic subjects in a +country which has witnessed no great political catastrophes, and +in which love invariably leads by a straight and easy road to +matrimony. People who spend every day in the week in making +money, and the Sunday in going to church, have nothing to invite +the muse of Comedy. + +A single fact suffices to show that the stage is not very +popular in the United States. The Americans, whose laws allow of +the utmost freedom and even license of language in all other +respects, have nevertheless subjected their dramatic authors to a +sort of censorship. Theatrical performances can only take place +by permission of the municipal authorities. This may serve to +show how much communities are like individuals; they surrender +themselves unscrupulously to their ruling passions, and +afterwards take the greatest care not to yield too much to the +vehemence of tastes which they do not possess. + +No portion of literature is connected by closer or more +numerous ties with the present condition of society than the +drama. The drama of one period can never be suited to the +following age, if in the interval an important revolution has +changed the manners and the laws of the nation. The great +authors of a preceding age may be read; but pieces written for a +different public will not be followed. The dramatic authors of +the past live only in books. The traditional taste of certain +individuals, vanity, fashion, or the genius of an actor may +sustain or resuscitate for a time the aristocratic drama amongst +a democracy; but it will speedily fall away of itself - not +overthrown, but abandoned. + +Chapter XX: Characteristics Of Historians In Democratic Ages +Historians who write in aristocratic ages are wont to refer +all occurrences to the particular will or temper of certain +individuals; and they are apt to attribute the most important +revolutions to very slight accidents. They trace out the smallest +causes with sagacity, and frequently leave the greatest +unperceived. Historians who live in democratic ages exhibit +precisely opposite characteristics. Most of them attribute +hardly any influence to the individual over the destiny of the +race, nor to citizens over the fate of a people; but, on the +other hand, they assign great general causes to all petty +incidents. These contrary tendencies explain each other. + +When the historian of aristocratic ages surveys the theatre +of the world, he at once perceives a very small number of +prominent actors, who manage the whole piece. These great +personages, who occupy the front of the stage, arrest the +observation, and fix it on themselves; and whilst the historian +is bent on penetrating the secret motives which make them speak +and act, the rest escape his memory. The importance of the +things which some men are seen to do, gives him an exaggerated +estimate of the influence which one man may possess; and +naturally leads him to think, that in order to explain the +impulses of the multitude, it is necessary to refer them to the +particular influence of some one individual. + +When, on the contrary, all the citizens are independent of +one another, and each of them is individually weak, no one is +seen to exert a great, or still less a lasting power, over the +community. At first sight, individuals appear to be absolutely +devoid of any influence over it; and society would seem to +advance alone by the free and voluntary concurrence of all the +men who compose it. This naturally prompts the mind to search +for that general reason which operates upon so many men's +faculties at the same time, and turns them simultaneously in the +same direction. + +I am very well convinced that even amongst democratic +nations, the genius, the vices, or the virtues of certain +individuals retard or accelerate the natural current of a +people's history: but causes of this secondary and fortuitous +nature are infinitely more various, more concealed, more complex, +less powerful, and consequently less easy to trace in periods of +equality than in ages of aristocracy, when the task of the +historian is simply to detach from the mass of general events the +particular influences of one man or of a few men. In the former +case the historian is soon wearied by the toil; his mind loses +itself in this labyrinth; and, in his inability clearly to +discern or conspicuously to point out the influence of +individuals, he denies their existence. He prefers talking about +the characteristics of race, the physical conformation of the +country, or the genius of civilization, which abridges his own +labors, and satisfies his reader far better at less cost. + +M. de Lafayette says somewhere in his "Memoirs" that the +exaggerated system of general causes affords surprising +consolations to second-rate statesmen. I will add, that its +effects are not less consolatory to second-rate historians; it +can always furnish a few mighty reasons to extricate them from +the most difficult part of their work, and it indulges the +indolence or incapacity of their minds, whilst it confers upon +them the honors of deep thinking. + +For myself, I am of opinion that at all times one great +portion of the events of this world are attributable to general +facts, and another to special influences. These two kinds of +cause are always in operation: their proportion only varies. +General facts serve to explain more things in democratic than in +aristocratic ages, and fewer things are then assignable to +special influences. At periods of aristocracy the reverse takes +place: special influences are stronger, general causes weaker - +unless indeed we consider as a general cause the fact itself of +the inequality of conditions, which allows some individuals to +baffle the natural tendencies of all the rest. The historians +who seek to describe what occurs in democratic societies are +right, therefore, in assigning much to general causes, and in +devoting their chief attention to discover them; but they are +wrong in wholly denying the special influence of individuals, +because they cannot easily trace or follow it. + +The historians who live in democratic ages are not only +prone to assign a great cause to every incident, but they are +also given to connect incidents together, so as to deduce a +system from them. In aristocratic ages, as the attention of +historians is constantly drawn to individuals, the connection of +events escapes them; or rather, they do not believe in any such +connection. To them the clew of history seems every instant +crossed and broken by the step of man. In democratic ages, on +the contrary, as the historian sees much more of actions than of +actors, he may easily establish some kind of sequency and +methodical order amongst the former. Ancient literature, which +is so rich in fine historical compositions, does not contain a +single great historical system, whilst the poorest of modern +literatures abound with them. It would appear that the ancient +historians did not make sufficient use of those general theories +which our historical writers are ever ready to carry to excess. + +Those who write in democratic ages have another more +dangerous tendency. When the traces of individual action upon +nations are lost, it often happens that the world goes on to +move, though the moving agent is no longer discoverable. As it +becomes extremely difficult to discern and to analyze the reasons +which, acting separately on the volition of each member of the +community, concur in the end to produce movement in the old mass, +men are led to believe that this movement is involuntary, and +that societies unconsciously obey some superior force ruling over +them. But even when the general fact which governs the private +volition of all individuals is supposed to be discovered upon the +earth, the principle of human free-will is not secure. A cause +sufficiently extensive to affect millions of men at once, and +sufficiently strong to bend them all together in the same +direction, may well seem irresistible: having seen that mankind +do yield to it, the mind is close upon the inference that mankind +cannot resist it. + +Historians who live in democratic ages, then, not only deny +that the few have any power of acting upon the destiny of a +people, but they deprive the people themselves of the power of +modifying their own condition, and they subject them either to an +inflexible Providence, or to some blind necessity. According to +them, each nation is indissolubly bound by its position, its +origin, its precedents, and its character, to a certain lot which +no efforts can ever change. They involve generation in +generation, and thus, going back from age to age, and from +necessity to necessity, up to the origin of the world, they forge +a close and enormous chain, which girds and binds the human race. +To their minds it is not enough to show what events have +occurred: they would fain show that events could not have +occurred otherwise. They take a nation arrived at a certain +stage of its history, and they affirm that it could not but +follow the track which brought it thither. It is easier to make +such an assertion than to show by what means the nation might +have adopted a better course. + +In reading the historians of aristocratic ages, and +especially those of antiquity, it would seem that, to be master +of his lot, and to govern his fellow-creatures, man requires only +to be master of himself. In perusing the historical volumes +which our age has produced, it would seem that man is utterly +powerless over himself and over all around him. The historians +of antiquity taught how to command: those of our time teach only +how to obey; in their writings the author often appears great, +but humanity is always diminutive. If this doctrine of +necessity, which is so attractive to those who write history in +democratic ages, passes from authors to their readers, till it +infects the whole mass of the community and gets possession of +the public mind, it will soon paralyze the activity of modern +society, and reduce Christians to the level of the Turks. I +would moreover observe, that such principles are peculiarly +dangerous at the period at which we are arrived. Our +contemporaries are but too prone to doubt of the human free-will, +because each of them feels himself confined on every side by his +own weakness; but they are still willing to acknowledge the +strength and independence of men united in society. Let not this +principle be lost sight of; for the great object in our time is +to raise the faculties of men, not to complete their prostration. +Chapter XXI: Of Parliamentary Eloquence In The United States +Amongst aristocratic nations all the members of the +community are connected with and dependent upon each other; the +graduated scale of different ranks acts as a tie, which keeps +everyone in his proper place and the whole body in subordination. +Something of the same kind always occurs in the political +assemblies of these nations. Parties naturally range themselves +under certain leaders, whom they obey by a sort of instinct, +which is only the result of habits contracted elsewhere. They +carry the manners of general society into the lesser assemblage. + +In democratic countries it often happens that a great number +of citizens are tending to the same point; but each one only +moves thither, or at least flatters himself that he moves, of his +own accord. Accustomed to regulate his doings by personal +impulse alone, he does not willingly submit to dictation from +without. This taste and habit of independence accompany him into +the councils of the nation. If he consents to connect himself +with other men in the prosecution of the same purpose, at least +he chooses to remain free to contribute to the common success +after his own fashion. Hence it is that in democratic countries +parties are so impatient of control, and are never manageable +except in moments of great public danger. Even then, the +authority of leaders, which under such circumstances may be able +to make men act or speak, hardly ever reaches the extent of +making them keep silence. + +Amongst aristocratic nations the members of political +assemblies are at the same time members of the aristocracy. Each +of them enjoys high established rank in his own right, and the +position which he occupies in the assembly is often less +important in his eyes than that which he fills in the country. +This consoles him for playing no part in the discussion of public +affairs, and restrains him from too eagerly attempting to play an +insignificant one. + +In America, it generally happens that a Representative only +becomes somebody from his position in the Assembly. He is +therefore perpetually haunted by a craving to acquire importance +there, and he feels a petulant desire to be constantly obtruding +his opinions upon the House. His own vanity is not the only +stimulant which urges him on in this course, but that of his +constituents, and the continual necessity of propitiating them. +Amongst aristocratic nations a member of the legislature is +rarely in strict dependence upon his constituents: he is +frequently to them a sort of unavoidable representative; +sometimes they are themselves strictly dependent upon him; and if +at length they reject him, he may easily get elected elsewhere, +or, retiring from public life, he may still enjoy the pleasures +of splendid idleness. In a democratic country like the United +States a Representative has hardly ever a lasting hold on the +minds of his constituents. However small an electoral body may +be, the fluctuations of democracy are constantly changing its +aspect; it must, therefore, be courted unceasingly. He is never +sure of his supporters, and, if they forsake him, he is left +without a resource; for his natural position is not sufficiently +elevated for him to be easily known to those not close to him; +and, with the complete state of independence prevailing among the +people, he cannot hope that his friends or the government will +send him down to be returned by an electoral body unacquainted +with him. The seeds of his fortune are, therefore, sown in his +own neighborhood; from that nook of earth he must start, to raise +himself to the command of a people and to influence the destinies +of the world. Thus it is natural that in democratic countries +the members of political assemblies think more of their +constituents than of their party, whilst in aristocracies they +think more of their party than of their constituents. + +But what ought to be said to gratify constituents is not +always what ought to be said in order to serve the party to which +Representatives profess to belong. The general interest of a +party frequently demands that members belonging to it should not +speak on great questions which they understand imperfectly; that +they should speak but little on those minor questions which +impede the great ones; lastly, and for the most part, that they +should not speak at all. To keep silence is the most useful +service that an indifferent spokesman can render to the +commonwealth. Constituents, however, do not think so. The +population of a district sends a representative to take a part in +the government of a country, because they entertain a very lofty +notion of his merits. As men appear greater in proportion to the +littleness of the objects by which they are surrounded, it may be +assumed that the opinion entertained of the delegate will be so +much the higher as talents are more rare among his constituents. +It will therefore frequently happen that the less constituents +have to expect from their representative, the more they will +anticipate from him; and, however incompetent he may be, they +will not fail to call upon him for signal exertions, +corresponding to the rank they have conferred upon him. + +Independently of his position as a legislator of the State, +electors also regard their Representative as the natural patron +of the constituency in the Legislature; they almost consider him +as the proxy of each of his supporters, and they flatter +themselves that he will not be less zealous in defense of their +private interests than of those of the country. Thus electors +are well assured beforehand that the Representative of their +choice will be an orator; that he will speak often if he can, and +that in case he is forced to refrain, he will strive at any rate +to compress into his less frequent orations an inquiry into all +the great questions of state, combined with a statement of all +the petty grievances they have themselves to complain to; so +that, though he be not able to come forward frequently, he should +on each occasion prove what he is capable of doing; and that, +instead of perpetually lavishing his powers, he should +occasionally condense them in a small compass, so as to furnish a +sort of complete and brilliant epitome of his constituents and of +himself. On these terms they will vote for him at the next +election. These conditions drive worthy men of humble abilities +to despair, who, knowing their own powers, would never +voluntarily have come forward. But thus urged on, the +Representative begins to speak, to the great alarm of his +friends; and rushing imprudently into the midst of the most +celebrated orators, he perplexes the debate and wearies the +House. + +All laws which tend to make the Representative more +dependent on the elector, not only affect the conduct of the +legislators, as I have remarked elsewhere, but also their +language. They exercise a simultaneous influence on affairs +themselves, and on the manner in which affairs are discussed. + +There is hardly a member of Congress who can make up his +mind to go home without having despatched at least one speech to +his constituents; nor who will endure any interruption until he +has introduced into his harangue whatever useful suggestions may +be made touching the four-and-twenty States of which the Union is +composed, and especially the district which he represents. He +therefore presents to the mind of his auditors a succession of +great general truths (which he himself only comprehends, and +expresses, confusedly), and of petty minutia, which he is but too +able to discover and to point out. The consequence is that the +debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and +perplexed, and that they seem rather to drag their slow length +along than to advance towards a distinct object. Some such state +of things will, I believe, always arise in the public assemblies +of democracies. + +Propitious circumstances and good laws might succeed in +drawing to the legislature of a democratic people men very +superior to those who are returned by the Americans to Congress; +but nothing will ever prevent the men of slender abilities who +sit there from obtruding themselves with complacency, and in all +ways, upon the public. The evil does not appear to me to be +susceptible of entire cure, because it not only originates in the +tactics of that assembly, but in its constitution and in that of +the country. The inhabitants of the United States seem themselves +to consider the matter in this light; and they show their long +experience of parliamentary life not by abstaining from making +bad speeches, but by courageously submitting to hear them made. +They are resigned to it, as to an evil which they know to be +inevitable. + +We have shown the petty side of political debates in +democratic assemblies - let us now exhibit the more imposing one. +The proceedings within the Parliament of England for the last one +hundred and fifty years have never occasioned any great sensation +out of that country; the opinions and feelings expressed by the +speakers have never awakened much sympathy, even amongst the +nations placed nearest to the great arena of British liberty; +whereas Europe was excited by the very first debates which took +place in the small colonial assemblies of America at the time of +the Revolution. This was attributable not only to particular and +fortuitous circumstances, but to general and lasting causes. I +can conceive nothing more admirable or more powerful than a great +orator debating on great questions of state in a democratic +assembly. As no particular class is ever represented there by men +commissioned to defend its own interests, it is always to the +whole nation, and in the name of the whole nation, that the +orator speaks. This expands his thoughts, and heightens his +power of language. As precedents have there but little weight +-as there are no longer any privileges attached to certain +property, nor any rights inherent in certain bodies or in certain +individuals, the mind must have recourse to general truths +derived from human nature to resolve the particular question +under discussion. Hence the political debates of a democratic +people, however small it may be, have a degree of breadth which +frequently renders them attractive to mankind. All men are +interested by them, because they treat of man, who is everywhere +the same. Amongst the greatest aristocratic nations, on the +contrary, the most general questions are almost always argued on +some special grounds derived from the practice of a particular +time, or the rights of a particular class; which interest that +class alone, or at most the people amongst whom that class +happens to exist. It is owing to this, as much as to the +greatness of the French people, and the favorable disposition of +the nations who listen to them, that the great effect which the +French political debates sometimes produce in the world, must be +attributed. The orators of France frequently speak to mankind, +even when they are addressing their countrymen only. + +Book 2 + +Influence Of Democracy On The Feelings Of Americans + +Chapter I: Why Democratic Nations Show A More Ardent And Enduring +Love Of Equality Than Of Liberty + +The first and most intense passion which is engendered by +the equality of conditions is, I need hardly say, the love of +that same equality. My readers will therefore not be surprised +that I speak of its before all others. Everybody has remarked +that in our time, and especially in France, this passion for +equality is every day gaining ground in the human heart. It has +been said a hundred times that our contemporaries are far more +ardently and tenaciously attached to equality than to freedom; +but as I do not find that the causes of the fact have been +sufficiently analyzed, I shall endeavor to point them out. + +It is possible to imagine an extreme point at which freedom +and equality would meet and be confounded together. Let us +suppose that all the members of the community take a part in the +government, and that each of them has an equal right to take a +part in it. As none is different from his fellows, none can +exercise a tyrannical power: men will be perfectly free, because +they will all be entirely equal; and they will all be perfectly +equal, because they will be entirely free. To this ideal state +democratic nations tend. Such is the completest form that +equality can assume upon earth; but there are a thousand others +which, without being equally perfect, are not less cherished by +those nations. + +The principle of equality may be established in civil +society, without prevailing in the political world. Equal rights +may exist of indulging in the same pleasures, of entering the +same professions, of frequenting the same places - in a word, of +living in the same manner and seeking wealth by the same means, +although all men do not take an equal share in the government. A +kind of equality may even be established in the political world, +though there should be no political freedom there. A man may be +the equal of all his countrymen save one, who is the master of +all without distinction, and who selects equally from among them +all the agents of his power. Several other combinations might be +easily imagined, by which very great equality would be united to +institutions more or less free, or even to institutions wholly +without freedom. Although men cannot become absolutely equal +unless they be entirely free, and consequently equality, pushed +to its furthest extent, may be confounded with freedom, yet there +is good reason for distinguishing the one from the other. The +taste which men have for liberty, and that which they feel for +equality, are, in fact, two different things; and I am not afraid +to add that, amongst democratic nations, they are two unequal +things. + +Upon close inspection, it will be seen that there is in +every age some peculiar and preponderating fact with which all +others are connected; this fact almost always gives birth to some +pregnant idea or some ruling passion, which attracts to itself, +and bears away in its course, all the feelings and opinions of +the time: it is like a great stream, towards which each of the +surrounding rivulets seems to flow. Freedom has appeared in the +world at different times and under various forms; it has not been +exclusively bound to any social condition, and it is not confined +to democracies. Freedom cannot, therefore, form the +distinguishing characteristic of democratic ages. The peculiar +and preponderating fact which marks those ages as its own is the +equality of conditions; the ruling passion of men in those +periods is the love of this equality. Ask not what singular +charm the men of democratic ages find in being equal, or what +special reasons they may have for clinging so tenaciously to +equality rather than to the other advantages which society holds +out to them: equality is the distinguishing characteristic of the +age they live in; that, of itself, is enough to explain that they +prefer it to all the rest. + +But independently of this reason there are several others, +which will at all times habitually lead men to prefer equality to +freedom. If a people could ever succeed in destroying, or even +in diminishing, the equality which prevails in its own body, this +could only be accomplished by long and laborious efforts. Its +social condition must be modified, its laws abolished, its +opinions superseded, its habits changed, its manners corrupted. +But political liberty is more easily lost; to neglect to hold it +fast is to allow it to escape. Men therefore not only cling to +equality because it is dear to them; they also adhere to it +because they think it will last forever. + +That political freedom may compromise in its excesses the +tranquillity, the property, the lives of individuals, is obvious +to the narrowest and most unthinking minds. But, on the +contrary, none but attentive and clear-sighted men perceive the +perils with which equality threatens us, and they commonly avoid +pointing them out. They know that the calamities they apprehend +are remote, and flatter themselves that they will only fall upon +future generations, for which the present generation takes but +little thought. The evils which freedom sometimes brings with it +are immediate; they are apparent to all, and all are more or less +affected by them. The evils which extreme equality may produce +are slowly disclosed; they creep gradually into the social frame; +they are only seen at intervals, and at the moment at which they +become most violent habit already causes them to be no longer +felt. The advantages which freedom brings are only shown by +length of time; and it is always easy to mistake the cause in +which they originate. The advantages of equality are +instantaneous, and they may constantly be traced from their +source. Political liberty bestows exalted pleasures, from time +to time, upon a certain number of citizens. Equality every day +confers a number of small enjoyments on every man. The charms of +equality are every instant felt, and are within the reach of all; +the noblest hearts are not insensible to them, and the most +vulgar souls exult in them. The passion which equality engenders +must therefore be at once strong and general. Men cannot enjoy +political liberty unpurchased by some sacrifices, and they never +obtain it without great exertions. But the pleasures of equality +are self-proffered: each of the petty incidents of life seems to +occasion them, and in order to taste them nothing is required but +to live. + +Democratic nations are at all times fond of equality, but +there are certain epochs at which the passion they entertain for +it swells to the height of fury. This occurs at the moment when +the old social system, long menaced, completes its own +destruction after a last intestine struggle, and when the +barriers of rank are at length thrown down. At such times men +pounce upon equality as their booty, and they cling to it as to +some precious treasure which they fear to lose. The passion for +equality penetrates on every side into men's hearts, expands +there, and fills them entirely. Tell them not that by this blind +surrender of themselves to an exclusive passion they risk their +dearest interests: they are deaf. Show them not freedom escaping +from their grasp, whilst they are looking another way: they are +blind - or rather, they can discern but one sole object to be +desired in the universe. + +What I have said is applicable to all democratic nations: +what I am about to say concerns the French alone. Amongst most +modern nations, and especially amongst all those of the Continent +of Europe, the taste and the idea of freedom only began to exist +and to extend themselves at the time when social conditions were +tending to equality, and as a consequence of that very equality. +Absolute kings were the most efficient levellers of ranks amongst +their subjects. Amongst these nations equality preceded freedom: +equality was therefore a fact of some standing when freedom was +still a novelty: the one had already created customs, opinions, +and laws belonging to it, when the other, alone and for the first +time, came into actual existence. Thus the latter was still only +an affair of opinion and of taste, whilst the former had already +crept into the habits of the people, possessed itself of their +manners, and given a particular turn to the smallest actions of +their lives. Can it be wondered that the men of our own time +prefer the one to the other? + +I think that democratic communities have a natural taste for +freedom: left to themselves, they will seek it, cherish it, and +view any privation of it with regret. But for equality, their +passion is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible: they call +for equality in freedom; and if they cannot obtain that, they +still call for equality in slavery. They will endure poverty, +servitude, barbarism - but they will not endure aristocracy. +This is true at all times, and especially true in our own. All +men and all powers seeking to cope with this irresistible +passion, will be overthrown and destroyed by it. In our age, +freedom cannot be established without it, and despotism itself +cannot reign without its support. + +Chapter II: Of Individualism In Democratic Countries + +I have shown how it is that in ages of equality every man +seeks for his opinions within himself: I am now about to show how +it is that, in the same ages, all his feelings are turned towards +himselfalone. Individualism *a is a novel expression, to which a +novel idea has given birth. Our fathers were only acquainted +with egotism. Egotism is a passionate and exaggerated love of +self, which leads a man to connect everything with his own +person, and to prefer himself to everything in the world. +Individualism is a mature and calm feeling, which disposes each +member of the community to sever himself from the mass of his +fellow-creatures; and to draw apart with his family and his +friends; so that, after he has thus formed a little circle of his +own, he willingly leaves society at large to itself. Egotism +originates in blind instinct: individualism proceeds from +erroneous judgment more than from depraved feelings; it +originates as much in the deficiencies of the mind as in the +perversity of the heart. Egotism blights the germ of all virtue; +individualism, at first, only saps the virtues of public life; +but, in the long run, it attacks and destroys all others, and is +at length absorbed in downright egotism. Egotism is a vice as +old as the world, which does not belong to one form of society +more than to another: individualism is of democratic origin, and +it threatens to spread in the same ratio as the equality of +conditions. + +[Footnote a: [I adopt the expression of the original, however +strange it may seem to the English ear, partly because it +illustrates the remark on the introduction of general terms into +democratic language which was made in a preceding chapter, and +partly because I know of no English word exactly equivalent to +the expression. The chapter itself defines the meaning attached +to it by the author. - Translator's Note.]] + +Amongst aristocratic nations, as families remain for +centuries in the same condition, often on the same spot, all +generations become as it were contemporaneous. A man almost +always knows his forefathers, and respects them: he thinks he +already sees his remote descendants, and he loves them. He +willingly imposes duties on himself towards the former and the +latter; and he will frequently sacrifice his personal +gratifications to those who went before and to those who will +come after him. Aristocratic institutions have, moreover, the +effect of closely binding every man to several of his +fellow-citizens. As the classes of an aristocratic people are +strongly marked and permanent, each of them is regarded by its +own members as a sort of lesser country, more tangible and more +cherished than the country at large. As in aristocratic +communities all the citizens occupy fixed positions, one above +the other, the result is that each of them always sees a man +above himself whose patronage is necessary to him, and below +himself another man whose co-operation he may claim. Men living +in aristocratic ages are therefore almost always closely attached +to something placed out of their own sphere, and they are often +disposed to forget themselves. It is true that in those ages the +notion of human fellowship is faint, and that men seldom think of +sacrificing themselves for mankind; but they often sacrifice +themselves for other men. In democratic ages, on the contrary, +when the duties of each individual to the race are much more +clear, devoted service to any one man becomes more rare; the bond +of human affection is extended, but it is relaxed. + +Amongst democratic nations new families are constantly +springing up, others are constantly falling away, and all that +remain change their condition; the woof of time is every instant +broken, and the track of generations effaced. Those who went +before are soon forgotten; of those who will come after no one +has any idea: the interest of man is confined to those in close +propinquity to himself. As each class approximates to other +classes, and intermingles with them, its members become +indifferent and as strangers to one another. Aristocracy had +made a chain of all the members of the community, from the +peasant to the king: democracy breaks that chain, and severs +every link of it. As social conditions become more equal, the +number of persons increases who, although they are neither rich +enough nor powerful enough to exercise any great influence over +their fellow-creatures, have nevertheless acquired or retained +sufficient education and fortune to satisfy their own wants. +They owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; +they acquire the habit of always considering themselves as +standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole +destiny is in their own hands. Thus not only does democracy make +every man forget his ancestors, but it hides his descendants, and +separates his contemporaries from him; it throws him back forever +upon himself alone, and threatens in the end to confine him +entirely within the solitude of his own heart. +Chapter III: Individualism Stronger At The Close Of A Democratic +Revolution Than At Other Periods + +The period when the construction of democratic society upon +the ruins of an aristocracy has just been completed, is +especially that at which this separation of men from one another, +and the egotism resulting from it, most forcibly strike the +observation. Democratic communities not only contain a large +number of independent citizens, but they are constantly filled +with men who, having entered but yesterday upon their independent +condition, are intoxicated with their new power. They entertain +a presumptuous confidence in their strength, and as they do not +suppose that they can henceforward ever have occasion to claim +the assistance of their fellow-creatures, they do not scruple to +show that they care for nobody but themselves. + +An aristocracy seldom yields without a protracted struggle, +in the course of which implacable animosities are kindled between +the different classes of society. These passions survive the +victory, and traces of them may be observed in the midst of the +democratic confusion which ensues. Those members of the +community who were at the top of the late gradations of rank +cannot immediately forget their former greatness; they will long +regard themselves as aliens in the midst of the newly composed +society. They look upon all those whom this state of society has +made their equals as oppressors, whose destiny can excite no +sympathy; they have lost sight of their former equals, and feel +no longer bound by a common interest to their fate: each of them, +standing aloof, thinks that he is reduced to care for himself +alone. Those, on the contrary, who were formerly at the foot of +the social scale, and who have been brought up to the common +level by a sudden revolution, cannot enjoy their newly acquired +independence without secret uneasiness; and if they meet with +some of their former superiors on the same footing as themselves, +they stand aloof from them with an expression of triumph and of +fear. It is, then, commonly at the outset of democratic society +that citizens are most disposed to live apart. Democracy leads +men not to draw near to their fellow- creatures; but democratic +revolutions lead them to shun each other, and perpetuate in a +state of equality the animosities which the state of inequality +engendered. The great advantage of the Americans is that they +have arrived at a state of democracy without having to endure a +democratic revolution; and that they are born equal, instead of +becoming so. + +Chapter IV: That The Americans Combat The Effects Of +Individualism By Free Institutions + +Despotism, which is of a very timorous nature, is never more +secure of continuance than when it can keep men asunder; and all +is influence is commonly exerted for that purpose. No vice of +the human heart is so acceptable to it as egotism: a despot +easily forgives his subjects for not loving him, provided they do +not love each other. He does not ask them to assist him in +governing the State; it is enough that they do not aspire to +govern it themselves. He stigmatizes as turbulent and unruly +spirits those who would combine their exertions to promote the +prosperity of the community, and, perverting the natural meaning +of words, he applauds as good citizens those who have no sympathy +for any but themselves. Thus the vices which despotism engenders +are precisely those which equality fosters. These two things +mutually and perniciously complete and assist each other. +Equality places men side by side, unconnected by any common tie; +despotism raises barriers to keep them asunder; the former +predisposes them not to consider their fellow-creatures, the +latter makes general indifference a sort of public virtue. + +Despotism then, which is at all times dangerous, is more +particularly to be feared in democratic ages. It is easy to see +that in those same ages men stand most in need of freedom. When +the members of a community are forced to attend to public +affairs, they are necessarily drawn from the circle of their own +interests, and snatched at times from self-observation. As soon +as a man begins to treat of public affairs in public, he begins +to perceive that he is not so independent of his fellow-men as he +had at first imagined, and that, in order to obtain their +support, he must often lend them his co-operation. + +When the public is supreme, there is no man who does not +feel the value of public goodwill, or who does not endeavor to +court it by drawing to himself the esteem and affection of those +amongst whom he is to live. Many of the passions which congeal +and keep asunder human hearts, are then obliged to retire and +hide below the surface. Pride must be dissembled; disdain dares +not break out; egotism fears its own self. Under a free +government, as most public offices are elective, the men whose +elevated minds or aspiring hopes are too closely circumscribed in +private life, constantly feel that they cannot do without the +population which surrounds them. Men learn at such times to +think of their fellow- men from ambitious motives; and they +frequently find it, in a manner, their interest to forget +themselves. + +I may here be met by an objection derived from +electioneering intrigues, the meannesses of candidates, and the +calumnies of their opponents. These are opportunities for +animosity which occur the oftener the more frequent elections +become. Such evils are doubtless great, but they are transient; +whereas the benefits which attend them remain. The desire of +being elected may lead some men for a time to violent hostility; +but this same desire leads all men in the long run mutually to +support each other; and if it happens that an election +accidentally severs two friends, the electoral system brings a +multitude of citizens permanently together, who would always have +remained unknown to each other. Freedom engenders private +animosities, but despotism gives birth to general indifference. + +The Americans have combated by free institutions the +tendency of equality to keep men asunder, and they have subdued +it. The legislators of America did not suppose that a general +representation of the whole nation would suffice to ward off a +disorder at once so natural to the frame of democratic society, +and so fatal: they also thought that it would be well to infuse +political life into each portion of the territory, in order to +multiply to an infinite extent opportunities of acting in concert +for all the members of the community, and to make them constantly +feel their mutual dependence on each other. The plan was a wise +one. The general affairs of a country only engage the attention +of leading politicians, who assemble from time to time in the +same places; and as they often lose sight of each other +afterwards, no lasting ties are established between them. But if +the object be to have the local affairs of a district conducted +by the men who reside there, the same persons are always in +contact, and they are, in a manner, forced to be acquainted, and +to adapt themselves to one another. + +It is difficult to draw a man out of his own circle to +interest him in the destiny of the State, because he does not +clearly understand what influence the destiny of the State can +have upon his own lot. But if it be proposed to make a road +cross the end of his estate, he will see at a glance that there +is a connection between this small public affair and his greatest +private affairs; and he will discover, without its being shown to +him, the close tie which unites private to general interest. +Thus, far more may be done by intrusting to the citizens the +administration of minor affairs than by surrendering to them the +control of important ones, towards interesting them in the public +welfare, and convincing them that they constantly stand in need +one of the other in order to provide for it. A brilliant +achievement may win for you the favor of a people at one stroke; +but to earn the love and respect of the population which +surrounds you, a long succession of little services rendered and +of obscure good deeds -a constant habit of kindness, and an +established reputation for disinterestedness - will be required. +Local freedom, then, which leads a great number of citizens to +value the affection of their neighbors and of their kindred, +perpetually brings men together, and forces them to help one +another, in spite of the propensities which sever them. + +In the United States the more opulent citizens take great +care not to stand aloof from the people; on the contrary, they +constantly keep on easy terms with the lower classes: they listen +to them, they speak to them every day. They know that the rich +in democracies always stand in need of the poor; and that in +democratic ages you attach a poor man to you more by your manner +than by benefits conferred. The magnitude of such benefits, +which sets off the difference of conditions, causes a secret +irritation to those who reap advantage from them; but the charm +of simplicity of manners is almost irresistible: their affability +carries men away, and even their want of polish is not always +displeasing. This truth does not take root at once in the minds +of the rich. They generally resist it as long as the democratic +revolution lasts, and they do not acknowledge it immediately +after that revolution is accomplished. They are very ready to do +good to the people, but they still choose to keep them at arm's +length; they think that is sufficient, but they are mistaken. +They might spend fortunes thus without warming the hearts of the +population around them; - that population does not ask them for +the sacrifice of their money, but of their pride. + +It would seem as if every imagination in the United States +were upon the stretch to invent means of increasing the wealth +and satisfying the wants of the public. The best-informed +inhabitants of each district constantly use their information to +discover new truths which may augment the general prosperity; and +if they have made any such discoveries, they eagerly surrender +them to the mass of the people. + +When the vices and weaknesses, frequently exhibited by those +who govern in America, are closely examined, the prosperity of +the people occasions - but improperly occasions - surprise. +Elected magistrates do not make the American democracy flourish; +it flourishes because the magistrates are elective. + +It would be unjust to suppose that the patriotism and the +zeal which every American displays for the welfare of his fellow- +citizens are wholly insincere. Although private interest directs +the greater part of human actions in the United States as well as +elsewhere, it does not regulate them all. I must say that I have +often seen Americans make great and real sacrifices to the public +welfare; and I have remarked a hundred instances in which they +hardly ever failed to lend faithful support to each other. The +free institutions which the inhabitants of the United States +possess, and the political rights of which they make so much use, +remind every citizen, and in a thousand ways, that he lives in +society. They every instant impress upon his mind the notion +that it is the duty, as well as the interest of men, to make +themselves useful to their fellow-creatures; and as he sees no +particular ground of animosity to them, since he is never either +their master or their slave, his heart readily leans to the side +of kindness. Men attend to the interests of the public, first by +necessity, afterwards by choice: what was intentional becomes an +instinct; and by dint of working for the good of one's fellow +citizens, the habit and the taste for serving them is at length +acquired. + +Many people in France consider equality of conditions as one +evil, and political freedom as a second. When they are obliged +to yield to the former, they strive at least to escape from the +latter. But I contend that in order to combat the evils which +equality may produce, there is only one effectual remedy - +namely, political freedom. + + +Book Two - Chapters V-VII + +Chapter V: Of The Use Which The Americans Make Of Public +Associations In Civil Life + +I do not propose to speak of those political associations - +by the aid of which men endeavor to defend themselves against the +despotic influence of a majority - or against the aggressions of +regal power. That subject I have already treated. If each +citizen did not learn, in proportion as he individually becomes +more feeble, and consequently more incapable of preserving his +freedom single-handed, to combine with his fellow-citizens for +the purpose of defending it, it is clear that tyranny would +unavoidably increase together with equality. + +Those associations only which are formed in civil life, +without reference to political objects, are here adverted to. +The political associations which exist in the United States are +only a single feature in the midst of the immense assemblage of +associations in that country. Americans of all ages, all +conditions, and all dispositions, constantly form associations. +They have not only commercial and manufacturing companies, in +which all take part, but associations of a thousand other kinds - +religious, moral, serious, futile, extensive, or restricted, +enormous or diminutive. The Americans make associations to give +entertainments, to found establishments for education, to build +inns, to construct churches, to diffuse books, to send +missionaries to the antipodes; and in this manner they found +hospitals, prisons, and schools. If it be proposed to advance +some truth, or to foster some feeling by the encouragement of a +great example, they form a society. Wherever, at the head of +some new undertaking, you see the government in France, or a man +of rank in England, in the United States you will be sure to find +an association. I met with several kinds of associations in +America, of which I confess I had no previous notion; and I have +often admired the extreme skill with which the inhabitants of the +United States succeed in proposing a common object to the +exertions of a great many men, and in getting them voluntarily to +pursue it. I have since travelled over England, whence the +Americans have taken some of their laws and many of their +customs; and it seemed to me that the principle of +association was by no means so constantly or so adroitly used in +that country. The English often perform great things singly; +whereas the Americans form associations for the smallest +undertakings. It is evident that the former people consider +association as a powerful means of action, but the latter seem to +regard it as the only means they have of acting. + +Thus the most democratic country on the face of the earth is +that in which men have in our time carried to the highest +perfection the art of pursuing in common the object of their +common desires, and have applied this new science to the greatest +number of purposes. Is this the result of accident? or is there +in reality any necessary connection between the principle of +association and that of equality? Aristocratic communities +always contain, amongst a multitude of persons who by themselves +are powerless, a small number of powerful and wealthy citizens, +each of whom can achieve great undertakings single-handed. In +aristocratic societies men do not need to combine in order to +act, because they are strongly held together. Every wealthy and +powerful citizen constitutes the head of a permanent and +compulsory association, composed of all those who are dependent +upon him, or whom he makes subservient to the execution of his +designs. Amongst democratic nations, on the contrary, all the +citizens are independent and feeble; they can do hardly anything +by themselves, and none of them can oblige his fellow-men to lend +him their assistance. They all, therefore, fall into a state of +incapacity, if they do not learn voluntarily to help each other. +If men living in democratic countries had no right and no +inclination to associate for political purposes, their +independence would be in great jeopardy; but they might long +preserve their wealth and their cultivation: whereas if they +never acquired the habit of forming associations in ordinary +life, civilization itself would be endangered. A people amongst +which individuals should lose the power of achieving great things +single-handed, without acquiring the means of producing them by +united exertions, would soon relapse into barbarism. + +Unhappily, the same social condition which renders +associations so necessary to democratic nations, renders their +formation more difficult amongst those nations than amongst all +others. When several members of an aristocracy agree to combine, +they easily succeed in doing so; as each of them brings great +strength to the partnership, the number of its members may be +very limited; and when the members of an association are limited +in number, they may easily become mutually acquainted, understand +each other, and establish fixed regulations. The same +opportunities do not occur amongst democratic nations, where the +associated members must always be very numerous for their +association to have any power. + +I am aware that many of my countrymen are not in the least +embarrassed by this difficulty. They contend that the more +enfeebled and incompetent the citizens become, the more able and +active the government ought to be rendered, in order that society +at large may execute what individuals can no longer accomplish. +They believe this answers the whole difficulty, but I think they +are mistaken. A government might perform the part of some of the +largest American companies; and several States, members of the +Union, have already attempted it; but what political power could +ever carry on the vast multitude of lesser undertakings which the +American citizens perform every day, with the assistance of the +principle of association? It is easy to foresee that the time is +drawing near when man will be less and less able to produce, of +himself alone, the commonest necessaries of life. The task of +the governing power will therefore perpetually increase, and its +very efforts will extend it every day. The more it stands in the +place of associations, the more will individuals, losing the +notion of combining together, require its assistance: these are +causes and effects which unceasingly engender each other. Will +the administration of the country ultimately assume the +management of all the manufacturers, which no single citizen is +able to carry on? And if a time at length arrives, when, in +consequence of the extreme subdivision of landed property, the +soil is split into an infinite number of parcels, so that it can +only be cultivated by companies of husbandmen, will it be +necessary that the head of the government should leave the helm +of state to follow the plough? The morals and the intelligence of +a democratic people would be as much endangered as its business +and manufactures, if the government ever wholly usurped the place +of private companies. + +Feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, +and the human mind is developed by no other means than by the +reciprocal influence of men upon each other. I have shown that +these influences are almost null in democratic countries; they +must therefore be artificially created, and this can only be +accomplished by associations. + +When the members of an aristocratic community adopt a new +opinion, or conceive a new sentiment, they give it a station, as +it were, beside themselves, upon the lofty platform where they +stand; and opinions or sentiments so conspicuous to the eyes of +the multitude are easily introduced into the minds or hearts of +all around. In democratic countries the governing power alone is +naturally in a condition to act in this manner; but it is easy to +see that its action is always inadequate, and often dangerous. A +government can no more be competent to keep alive and to renew +the circulation of opinions and feelings amongst a great people, +than to manage all the speculations of productive industry. No +sooner does a government attempt to go beyond its political +sphere and to enter upon this new track, than it exercises, even +unintentionally, an insupportable tyranny; for a government can +only dictate strict rules, the opinions which it favors are +rigidly enforced, and it is never easy to discriminate between +its advice and its commands. Worse still will be the case if the +government really believes itself interested in preventing all +circulation of ideas; it will then stand motionless, and +oppressed by the heaviness of voluntary torpor. Governments +therefore should not be the only active powers: associations +ought, in democratic nations, to stand in lieu of those powerful +private individuals whom the equality of conditions has swept +away. + +As soon as several of the inhabitants of the United States +have taken up an opinion or a feeling which they wish to promote +in the world, they look out for mutual assistance; and as soon as +they have found each other out, they combine. From that moment +they are no longer isolated men, but a power seen from afar, +whose actions serve for an example, and whose language is +listened to. The first time I heard in the United States that +100,000 men had bound themselves publicly to abstain from +spirituous liquors, it appeared to me more like a joke than a +serious engagement; and I did not at once perceive why these +temperate citizens could not content themselves with drinking +water by their own firesides. I at last understood that 300,000 +Americans, alarmed by the progress of drunkenness around them, +had made up their minds to patronize temperance. They acted just +in the same way as a man of high rank who should dress very +plainly, in order to inspire the humbler orders with a contempt +of luxury. It is probable that if these 100,000 men had lived in +France, each of them would singly have memorialized the +government to watch the publichouses all over the kingdom. + +Nothing, in my opinion, is more deserving of our attention +than the intellectual and moral associations of America. The +political and industrial associations of that country strike us +forcibly; but the others elude our observation, or if we discover +them, we understand them imperfectly, because we have hardly ever +seen anything of the kind. It must, however, be acknowledged +that they are as necessary to the American people as the former, +and perhaps more so. In democratic countries the science of +association is the mother of science; the progress of all the +rest depends upon the progress it has made. Amongst the laws +which rule human societies there is one which seems to be more +precise and clear than all others. If men are to remain +civilized, or to become so, the art of associating together must +grow and improve in the same ratio in which the equality of +conditions is increased. + +Chapter VI: Of The Relation Between Public Associations And +Newspapers + +When men are no longer united amongst themselves by firm and +lasting ties, it is impossible to obtain the cooperation of any +great number of them, unless you can persuade every man whose +concurrence you require that this private interest obliges him +voluntarily to unite his exertions to the exertions of all the +rest. This can only be habitually and conveniently effected by +means of a newspaper; nothing but a newspaper can drop the same +thought into a thousand minds at the same moment. A newspaper is +an adviser who does not require to be sought, but who comes of +his own accord, and talks to you briefly every day of the common +weal, without distracting you from your private affairs. + +Newspapers therefore become more necessary in proportion as +men become more equal, and individualism more to be feared. To +suppose that they only serve to protect freedom would be to +diminish their importance: they maintain civilization. I shall +not deny that in democratic countries newspapers frequently lead +the citizens to launch together in very ill-digested schemes; but +if there were no newspapers there would be no common activity. +The evil which they produce is therefore much less than that +which they cure. + +The effect of a newspaper is not only to suggest the same +purpose to a great number of persons, but also to furnish means +for executing in common the designs which they may have singly +conceived. The principal citizens who inhabit an aristocratic +country discern each other from afar; and if they wish to unite +their forces, they move towards each other, drawing a multitude +of men after them. It frequently happens, on the contrary, in +democratic countries, that a great number of men who wish or who +want to combine cannot accomplish it, because as they are very +insignificant and lost amidst the crowd, they cannot see, and +know not where to find, one another. A newspaper then takes up +the notion or the feeling which had occurred simultaneously, but +singly, to each of them. All are then immediately guided towards +this beacon; and these wandering minds, which had long sought +each other in darkness, at length meet and unite. + +The newspaper brought them together, and the newspaper is +still necessary to keep them united. In order that an +association amongst a democratic people should have any power, it +must be a numerous body. The persons of whom it is composed are +therefore scattered over a wide extent, and each of them is +detained in the place of his domicile by the narrowness of his +income, or by the small unremitting exertions by which he earns +it. Means then must be found to converse every day without seeing +each other, and to take steps in common without having met. Thus +hardly any democratic association can do without newspapers. +There is consequently a necessary connection between public +associations and newspapers: newspapers make associations, and +associations make newspapers; and if it has been correctly +advanced that associations will increase in number as the +conditions of men become more equal, it is not less certain that +the number of newspapers increases in proportion to that of +associations. Thus it is in America that we find at the same +time the greatest number of associations and of newspapers. + +This connection between the number of newspapers and that of +associations leads us to the discovery of a further connection +between the state of the periodical press and the form of the +administration in a country; and shows that the number of +newspapers must diminish or increase amongst a democratic people, +in proportion as its administration is more or less centralized. +For amongst democratic nations the exercise of local powers +cannot be intrusted to the principal members of the community as +in aristocracies. Those powers must either be abolished, or +placed in the hands of very large numbers of men, who then in +fact constitute an association permanently established by law for +the purpose of administering the affairs of a certain extent of +territory; and they require a journal, to bring to them every +day, in the midst of their own minor concerns, some intelligence +of the state of their public weal. The more numerous local +powers are, the greater is the number of men in whom they are +vested by law; and as this want is hourly felt, the more +profusely do newspapers abound. + +The extraordinary subdivision of administrative power has +much more to do with the enormous number of American newspapers +than the great political freedom of the country and the absolute +liberty of the press. If all the inhabitants of the Union had +the suffrage - but a suffrage which should only extend to the +choice of their legislators in Congress - they would require but +few newspapers, because they would only have to act together on a +few very important but very rare occasions. But within the pale +of the great association of the nation, lesser associations have +been established by law in every country, every city, and indeed +in every village, for the purposes of local administration. The +laws of the country thus compel every American to co-operate +every day of his life with some of his fellow-citizens for a +common purpose, and each one of them requires a newspaper to +inform him what all the others are doing. + +I am of opinion that a democratic people, *a without any +national representative assemblies, but with a great number of +small local powers, would have in the end more newspapers than +another people governed by a centralized administration and an +elective legislation. What best explains to me the enormous +circulation of the daily press in the United States, is that +amongst the Americans I find the utmost national freedom combined +with local freedom of every kind. There is a prevailing opinion +in France and England that the circulation of newspapers would be +indefinitely increased by removing the taxes which have been laid +upon the press. This is a very exaggerated estimate of the +effects of such a reform. Newspapers increase in numbers, not +according to their cheapness, but according to the more or less +frequent want which a great number of men may feel for +intercommunication and combination. + +[Footnote a: I say a democratic people: the administration of an +aristocratic people may be the reverse of centralized, and yet +the want of newspapers be little felt, because local powers are +then vested in the hands of a very small number of men, who +either act apart, or who know each other and can easily meet and +come to an understanding.] + +In like manner I should attribute the increasing influence +of the daily press to causes more general than those by which it +is commonly explained. A newspaper can only subsist on the +condition of publishing sentiments or principles common to a +large number of men. A newspaper therefore always represents an +association which is composed of its habitual readers. This +association may be more or less defined, more or less restricted, +more or less numerous; but the fact that the newspaper keeps +alive, is a proof that at least the germ of such an association +exists in the minds of its readers. + +This leads me to a last reflection, with which I shall +conclude this chapter. The more equal the conditions of men +become, and the less strong men individually are, the more easily +do they give way to the current of the multitude, and the more +difficult is it for them to adhere by themselves to an opinion +which the multitude discard. A newspaper represents an +association; it may be said to address each of its readers in the +name of all the others, and to exert its influence over them in +proportion to their individual weakness. The power of the +newspaper press must therefore increase as the social conditions +of men become more equal. + +Chapter VII: Connection Of Civil And Political Associations +There is only one country on the face of the earth where the +citizens enjoy unlimited freedom of association for political +purposes. This same country is the only one in the world where +the continual exercise of the right of association has been +introduced into civil life, and where all the advantages which +civilization can confer are procured by means of it. In all the +countries where political associations are prohibited, civil +associations are rare. It is hardly probable that this is the +result of accident; but the inference should rather be, that +there is a natural, and perhaps a necessary, connection between +these two kinds of associations. Certain men happen to have a +common interest in some concern - either a commercial undertaking +is to be managed, or some speculation in manufactures to be +tried; they meet, they combine, and thus by degrees they become +familiar with the principle of association. The greater is the +multiplicity of small affairs, the more do men, even without +knowing it, acquire facility in prosecuting great undertakings in +common. Civil associations, therefore, facilitate political +association: but, on the other hand, political association +singularly strengthens and improves associations for civil +purposes. In civil life every man may, strictly speaking, fancy +that he can provide for his own wants; in politics, he can fancy +no such thing. When a people, then, have any knowledge of public +life, the notion of association, and the wish to coalesce, +present themselves every day to the minds of the whole community: +whatever natural repugnance may restrain men from acting in +concert, they will always be ready to combine for the sake of a +party. Thus political life makes the love and practice of +association more general; it imparts a desire of union, and +teaches the means of combination to numbers of men who would have +always lived apart. + +Politics not only give birth to numerous associations, but +to associations of great extent. In civil life it seldom happens +that any one interest draws a very large number of men to act in +concert; much skill is required to bring such an interest into +existence: but in politics opportunities present themselves every +day. Now it is solely in great associations that the general +value of the principle of association is displayed. Citizens who +are individually powerless, do not very clearly anticipate the +strength which they may acquire by uniting together; it must be +shown to them in order to be understood. Hence it is often +easier to collect a multitude for a public purpose than a few +persons; a thousand citizens do not see what interest they have +in combining together - ten thousand will be perfectly aware of +it. In politics men combine for great undertakings; and the use +they make of the principle of association in important affairs +practically teaches them that it is their interest to help each +other in those of less moment. A political association draws a +number of individuals at the same time out of their own circle: +however they may be naturally kept asunder by age, mind, and +fortune, it places them nearer together and brings them into +contact. Once met, they can always meet again. + +Men can embark in few civil partnerships without risking a +portion of their possessions; this is the case with all +manufacturing and trading companies. When men are as yet but +little versed in the art of association, and are unacquainted +with its principal rules, they are afraid, when first they +combine in this manner, of buying their experience dear. They +therefore prefer depriving themselves of a powerful instrument of +success to running the risks which attend the use of it. They +are, however, less reluctant to join political associations, +which appear to them to be without danger, because they adventure +no money in them. But they cannot belong to these associations +for any length of time without finding out how order is +maintained amongst a large number of men, and by what contrivance +they are made to advance, harmoniously and methodically, to the +same object. Thus they learn to surrender their own will to that +of all the rest, and to make their own exertions subordinate to +the common impulse - things which it is not less necessary to +know in civil than in political associations. Political +associations may therefore be considered as large free schools, +where all the members of the community go to learn the general +theory of association. + +But even if political association did not directly +contribute to the progress of civil association, to destroy the +former would be to impair the latter. When citizens can only +meet in public for certain purposes, they regard such meetings as +a strange proceeding of rare occurrence, and they rarely think at +all about it. When they are allowed to meet freely for all +purposes, they ultimately look upon public association as the +universal, or in a manner the sole means, which men can employ to +accomplish the different purposes they may have in view. Every +new want instantly revives the notion. The art of association +then becomes, as I have said before, the mother of action, +studied and applied by all. + +When some kinds of associations are prohibited and others +allowed, it is difficult to distinguish the former from the +latter, beforehand. In this state of doubt men abstain from them +altogether, and a sort of public opinion passes current which +tends to cause any association whatsoever to be regarded as a +bold and almost an illicit enterprise. *a + +[Footnote a: This is more especially true when the executive +government has a discretionary power of allowing or prohibiting +associations. When certain associations are simply prohibited by +law, and the courts of justice have to punish infringements of +that law, the evil is far less considerable. Then every citizen +knows beforehand pretty nearly what he has to expect. He judges +himself before he is judged by the law, and, abstaining from +prohibited associations, he embarks in those which are legally +sanctioned. It is by these restrictions that all free nations +have always admitted that the right of association might be +limited. But if the legislature should invest a man with a power +of ascertaining beforehand which associations are dangerous and +which are useful, and should authorize him to destroy all +associations in the bud or allow them to be formed, as nobody +would be able to foresee in what cases associations might be +established and in what cases they would be put down, the spirit +of association would be entirely paralyzed. The former of these +laws would only assail certain associations; the latter would +apply to society itself, and inflict an injury upon it. I can +conceive that a regular government may have recourse to the +former, but I do not concede that any government has the right of +enacting the latter.] + +It is therefore chimerical to suppose that the spirit of +association, when it is repressed on some one point, will +nevertheless display the same vigor on all others; and that if +men be allowed to prosecute certain undertakings in common, that +is quite enough for them eagerly to set about them. When the +members of a community are allowed and accustomed to combine for +all purposes, they will combine as readily for the lesser as for +the more important ones; but if they are only allowed to combine +for small affairs, they will be neither inclined nor able to +effect it. It is in vain that you will leave them entirely free +to prosecute their business on joint-stock account: they will +hardly care to avail themselves of the rights you have granted to +them; and, after having exhausted your strength in vain efforts +to put down prohibited associations, you will be surprised that +you cannot persuade men to form the associations you encourage. + +I do not say that there can be no civil associations in a +country where political association is prohibited; for men can +never live in society without embarking in some common +undertakings: but I maintain that in such a country civil +associations will always be few in number, feebly planned, +unskillfully managed, that they will never form any vast designs, +or that they will fail in the execution of them. + +This naturally leads me to think that freedom of association +in political matters is not so dangerous to public tranquillity +as is supposed; and that possibly, after having agitated society +for some time, it may strengthen the State in the end. In +democratic countries political associations are, so to speak, the +only powerful persons who aspire to rule the State. Accordingly, +the governments of our time look upon associations of this kind +just as sovereigns in the Middle Ages regarded the great vassals +of the Crown: they entertain a sort of instinctive abhorrence of +them, and they combat them on all occasions. They bear, on the +contrary, a natural goodwill to civil associations, because they +readily discover that, instead of directing the minds of the +community to public affairs, these institutions serve to divert +them from such reflections; and that, by engaging them more and +more in the pursuit of objects which cannot be attained without +public tranquillity, they deter them from revolutions. But these +governments do not attend to the fact that political associations +tend amazingly to multiply and facilitate those of a civil +character, and that in avoiding a dangerous evil they deprive +themselves of an efficacious remedy. + +When you see the Americans freely and constantly forming +associations for the purpose of promoting some political +principle, of raising one man to the head of affairs, or of +wresting power from another, you have some difficulty in +understanding that men so independent do not constantly fall into +the abuse of freedom. If, on the other hand, you survey the +infinite number of trading companies which are in operation in +the United States, and perceive that the Americans are on every +side unceasingly engaged in the execution of important and +difficult plans, which the slightest revolution would throw into +confusion, you will readily comprehend why people so well +employed are by no means tempted to perturb the State, nor to +destroy that public tranquillity by which they all profit. + +Is it enough to observe these things separately, or should +we not discover the hidden tie which connects them? In their +political associations, the Americans of all conditions, minds, +and ages, daily acquire a general taste for association, and grow +accustomed to the use of it. There they meet together in large +numbers, they converse, they listen to each other, and they are +mutually stimulated to all sorts of undertakings. They +afterwards transfer to civil life the notions they have thus +acquired, and make them subservient to a thousand purposes. Thus +it is by the enjoyment of a dangerous freedom that the Americans +learn the art of rendering the dangers of freedom less +formidable. + +If a certain moment in the existence of a nation be +selected, it is easy to prove that political associations perturb +the State, and paralyze productive industry; but take the whole +life of a people, and it may perhaps be easy to demonstrate that +freedom of association in political matters is favorable to the +prosperity and even to the tranquillity of the community. + +I said in the former part of this work, "The unrestrained +liberty of political association cannot be entirely assimilated +to the liberty of the press. The one is at the same time less +necessary and more dangerous than the other. A nation may +confine it within certain limits without ceasing to be mistress +of itself; and it may sometimes be obliged to do so in order to +maintain its own authority." And further on I added: "It cannot +be denied that the unrestrained liberty of association for +political purposes is the last degree of liberty which a people +is fit for. If it does not throw them into anarchy, it +perpetually brings them, as it were, to the verge of it." Thus I +do not think that a nation is always at liberty to invest its +citizens with an absolute right of association for political +purposes; and I doubt whether, in any country or in any age, it +be wise to set no limits to freedom of association. A certain +nation, it is said, could not maintain tranquillity in the +community, cause the laws to be respected, or establish a lasting +government, if the right of association were not confined within +narrow limits. These blessings are doubtless invaluable, and I +can imagine that, to acquire or to preserve them, a nation may +impose upon itself severe temporary restrictions: but still it is +well that the nation should know at what price these blessings +are purchased. I can understand that it may be advisable to cut +off a man's arm in order to save his life; but it would be +ridiculous to assert that he will be as dexterous as he was +before he lost it. + + +Book Two - Chapters VII-XIII + +Chapter VIII: The Americans Combat Individualism By The Principle +Of Interest Rightly Understood + +When the world was managed by a few rich and powerful +individuals, these persons loved to entertain a lofty idea of the +duties of man. They were fond of professing that it is +praiseworthy to forget one's self, and that good should be done +without hope of reward, as it is by the Deity himself. Such were +the standard opinions of that time in morals. I doubt whether +men were more virtuous in aristocratic ages than in others; but +they were incessantly talking of the beauties of virtue, and its +utility was only studied in secret. But since the imagination +takes less lofty flights and every man's thoughts are centred in +himself, moralists are alarmed by this idea of self-sacrifice, +and they no longer venture to present it to the human mind. They +therefore content themselves with inquiring whether the personal +advantage of each member of the community does not consist in +working for the good of all; and when they have hit upon some +point on which private interest and public interest meet and +amalgamate, they are eager to bring it into notice. Observations +of this kind are gradually multiplied: what was only a single +remark becomes a general principle; and it is held as a truth +that man serves himself in serving his fellow-creatures, and that +his private interest is to do good. + +I have already shown, in several parts of this work, by what +means the inhabitants of the United States almost always manage +to combine their own advantage with that of their +fellow-citizens: my present purpose is to point out the general +rule which enables them to do so. In the United States hardly +anybody talks of the beauty of virtue; but they maintain that +virtue is useful, and prove it every day. The American moralists +do not profess that men ought to sacrifice themselves for their +fellow-creatures because it is noble to make such sacrifices; but +they boldly aver that such sacrifices are as necessary to him who +imposes them upon himself as to him for whose sake they are made. +They have found out that in their country and their age man is +brought home to himself by an irresistible force; and losing all +hope of stopping that force, they turn all their thoughts to the +direction of it. They therefore do not deny that every man may +follow his own interest; but they endeavor to prove that it is +the interest of every man to be virtuous. I shall not here enter +into the reasons they allege, which would divert me from my +subject: suffice it to say that they have convinced their +fellow-countrymen. + +Montaigne said long ago: "Were I not to follow the straight +road for its straightness, I should follow it for having found by +experience that in the end it is commonly the happiest and most +useful track." The doctrine of interest rightly understood is +not, then, new, but amongst the Americans of our time it finds +universal acceptance: it has become popular there; you may trace +it at the bottom of all their actions, you will remark it in all +they say. It is as often to be met with on the lips of the poor +man as of the rich. In Europe the principle of interest is much +grosser than it is in America, but at the same time it is less +common, and especially it is less avowed; amongst us, men still +constantly feign great abnegation which they no longer feel. The +Americans, on the contrary, are fond of explaining almost all the +actions of their lives by the principle of interest rightly +understood; they show with complacency how an enlightened regard +for themselves constantly prompts them to assist each other, and +inclines them willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and +property to the welfare of the State. In this respect I think +they frequently fail to do themselves justice; for in the United +States, as well as elsewhere, people are sometimes seen to give +way to those disinterested and spontaneous impulses which are +natural to man; but the Americans seldom allow that they yield to +emotions of this kind; they are more anxious to do honor to their +philosophy than to themselves. + +I might here pause, without attempting to pass a judgment on +what I have described. The extreme difficulty of the subject +would be my excuse, but I shall not avail myself of it; and I had +rather that my readers, clearly perceiving my object, should +refuse to follow me than that I should leave them in suspense. +The principle of interest rightly understood is not a lofty one, +but it is clear and sure. It does not aim at mighty objects, but +it attains without excessive exertion all those at which it aims. +As it lies within the reach of all capacities, everyone can +without difficulty apprehend and retain it. By its admirable +conformity to human weaknesses, it easily obtains great dominion; +nor is that dominion precarious, since the principle checks one +personal interest by another, and uses, to direct the passions, +the very same instrument which excites them. The principle of +interest rightly understood produces no great acts of +self-sacrifice, but it suggests daily small acts of self-denial. +By itself it cannot suffice to make a man virtuous, but it +disciplines a number of citizens in habits of regularity, +temperance, moderation, foresight, self-command; and, if it does +not lead men straight to virtue by the will, it gradually draws +them in that direction by their habits. If the principle of +interest rightly understood were to sway the whole moral world, +extraordinary virtues would doubtless be more rare; but I think +that gross depravity would then also be less common. The +principle of interest rightly understood perhaps prevents some +men from rising far above the level of mankind; but a great +number of other men, who were falling far below it, are caught +and restrained by it. Observe some few individuals, they are +lowered by it; survey mankind, it is raised. I am not afraid to +say that the principle of interest, rightly understood, appears +to me the best suited of all philosophical theories to the wants +of the men of our time, and that I regard it as their chief +remaining security against themselves. Towards it, therefore, +the minds of the moralists of our age should turn; even should +they judge it to be incomplete, it must nevertheless be adopted +as necessary. + +I do not think upon the whole that there is more egotism +amongst us than in America; the only difference is, that there it +is enlightened - here it is not. Every American will sacrifice a +portion of his private interests to preserve the rest; we would +fain preserve the whole, and oftentimes the whole is lost. +Everybody I see about me seems bent on teaching his +contemporaries, by precept and example, that what is useful is +never wrong. Will nobody undertake to make them understand how +what is right may be useful? No power upon earth can prevent the +increasing equality of conditions from inclining the human mind +to seek out what is useful, or from leading every member of the +community to be wrapped up in himself. It must therefore be +expected that personal interest will become more than ever the +principal, if not the sole, spring of men's actions; but it +remains to be seen how each man will understand his personal +interest. If the members of a community, as they become more +equal, become more ignorant and coarse, it is difficult to +foresee to what pitch of stupid excesses their egotism may lead +them; and no one can foretell into what disgrace and wretchedness +they would plunge themselves, lest they should have to sacrifice +something of their own well-being to the prosperity of their +fellow-creatures. I do not think that the system of interest, as +it is professed in America, is, in all its parts, self-evident; +but it contains a great number of truths so evident that men, if +they are but educated, cannot fail to see them. Educate, then, +at any rate; for the age of implicit self- sacrifice and +instinctive virtues is already flitting far away from us, and the +time is fast approaching when freedom, public peace, and social +order itself will not be able to exist without +education. + +Chapter IX: That The Americans Apply The Principle Of Interest +Rightly Understood To Religious Matters + +If the principle of interest rightly understood had nothing +but the present world in view, it would be very insufficient; for +there are many sacrifices which can only find their recompense in +another; and whatever ingenuity may be put forth to demonstrate +the utility of virtue, it will never be an easy task to make that +man live aright who has no thoughts of dying. It is therefore +necessary to ascertain whether the principle of interest rightly +understood is easily compatible with religious belief. The +philosophers who inculcate this system of morals tell men, that +to be happy in this life they must watch their own passions and +steadily control their excess; that lasting happiness can only be +secured by renouncing a thousand transient gratifications; and +that a man must perpetually triumph over himself, in order to +secure his own advantage. The founders of almost all religions +have held the same language. The track they point out to man is +the same, only that the goal is more remote; instead of placing +in this world the reward of the sacrifices they impose, they +transport it to another. Nevertheless I cannot believe that all +those who practise virtue from religious motives are only +actuated by the hope of a recompense. I have known zealous +Christians who constantly forgot themselves, to work with greater +ardor for the happiness of their fellow-men; and I have heard +them declare that all they did was only to earn the blessings of +a future state. I cannot but think that they deceive themselves; +I respect them too much to believe them. + +Christianity indeed teaches that a man must prefer his +neighbor to himself, in order to gain eternal life; but +Christianity also teaches that men ought to benefit their fellow- +creatures for the love of God. A sublime expression! Man, +searching by his intellect into the divine conception, and seeing +that order is the purpose of God, freely combines to prosecute +the great design; and whilst he sacrifices his personal interests +to this consummate order of all created things, expects no other +recompense than the pleasure of contemplating it. I do not +believe that interest is the sole motive of religious men: but I +believe that interest is the principal means which religions +themselves employ to govern men, and I do not question that this +way they strike into the multitude and become popular. It is not +easy clearly to perceive why the principle of interest rightly +understood should keep aloof from religious opinions; and it +seems to me more easy to show why it should draw men to them. +Let it be supposed that, in order to obtain happiness in this +world, a man combats his instinct on all occasions and +deliberately calculates every action of his life; that, instead +of yielding blindly to the impetuosity of first desires, he has +learned the art of resisting them, and that he has accustomed +himself to sacrifice without an effort the pleasure of a moment +to the lasting interest of his whole life. If such a man believes +in the religion which he professes, it will cost him but little +to submit to the restrictions it may impose. Reason herself +counsels him to obey, and habit has prepared him to endure them. +If he should have conceived any doubts as to the object of his +hopes, still he will not easily allow himself to be stopped by +them; and he will decide that it is wise to risk some of the +advantages of this world, in order to preserve his rights to the +great inheritance promised him in another. "To be mistaken in +believing that the Christian religion is true," says Pascal, "is +no great loss to anyone; but how dreadful to be mistaken in +believing it to be false!" + +The Americans do not affect a brutal indifference to a +future state; they affect no puerile pride in despising perils +which they hope to escape from. They therefore profess their +religion without shame and without weakness; but there generally +is, even in their zeal, something so indescribably tranquil, +methodical, and deliberate, that it would seem as if the head, +far more than the heart, brought them to the foot of the altar. +The Americans not only follow their religion from interest, but +they often place in this world the interest which makes them +follow it. In the Middle Ages the clergy spoke of nothing but a +future state; they hardly cared to prove that a sincere Christian +may be a happy man here below. But the American preachers are +constantly referring to the earth; and it is only with great +difficulty that they can divert their attention from it. To +touch their congregations, they always show them how favorable +religious opinions are to freedom and public tranquillity; and it +is often difficult to ascertain from their discourses whether the +principal object of religion is to procure eternal felicity in +the other world, or prosperity in this. + +Chapter X: Of The Taste For Physical Well-Being In America + +In America the passion for physical well-being is not always +exclusive, but it is general; and if all do not feel it in the +same manner, yet it is felt by all. Carefully to satisfy all, +even the least wants of the body, and to provide the little +conveniences of life, is uppermost in every mind. Something of an +analogous character is more and more apparent in Europe. Amongst +the causes which produce these similar consequences in both +hemispheres, several are so connected with my subject as to +deserve notice. + +When riches are hereditarily fixed in families, there are a +great number of men who enjoy the comforts of life without +feeling an exclusive taste for those comforts. The heart of man +is not so much caught by the undisturbed possession of anything +valuable as by the desire, as yet imperfectly satisfied, of +possessing it, and by the incessant dread of losing it. In +aristocratic communities, the wealthy, never having experienced a +condition different from their own, entertain no fear of changing +it; the existence of such conditions hardly occurs to them. The +comforts of life are not to them the end of life, but simply a +way of living; they regard them as existence itself - enjoyed, +but scarcely thought of. As the natural and instinctive taste +which all men feel for being well off is thus satisfied without +trouble and without apprehension, their faculties are turned +elsewhere, and cling to more arduous and more lofty undertakings, +which excite and engross their minds. Hence it is that, in the +midst of physical gratifications, the members of an aristocracy +often display a haughty contempt of these very enjoyments, and +exhibit singular powers of endurance under the privation of them. +All the revolutions which have ever shaken or destroyed +aristocracies, have shown how easily men accustomed to +superfluous luxuries can do without the necessaries of life; +whereas men who have toiled to acquire a competency can hardly +live after they have lost it. + +If I turn my observation from the upper to the lower +classes, I find analogous effects produced by opposite causes. +Amongst a nation where aristocracy predominates in society, and +keeps it stationary, the people in the end get as much accustomed +to poverty as the rich to their opulence. The latter bestow no +anxiety on their physical comforts, because they enjoy them +without an effort; the former do not think of things which they +despair of obtaining, and which they hardly know enough of to +desire them. In communities of this kind, the imagination of the +poor is driven to seek another world; the miseries of real life +inclose it around, but it escapes from their control, and flies +to seek its pleasures far beyond. When, on the contrary, the +distinctions of ranks are confounded together and privileges are +destroyed - when hereditary property is subdivided, and education +and freedom widely diffused, the desire of acquiring the comforts +of the world haunts the imagination of the poor, and the dread of +losing them that of the rich. Many scanty fortunes spring up; +those who possess them have a sufficient share of physical +gratifications to conceive a taste for these pleasures - not +enough to satisfy it. They never procure them without exertion, +and they never indulge in them without apprehension. They are +therefore always straining to pursue or to retain gratifications +so delightful, so imperfect, so fugitive. + +If I were to inquire what passion is most natural to men who +are stimulated and circumscribed by the obscurity of their birth +or the mediocrity of their fortune, I could discover none more +peculiarly appropriate to their condition than this love of +physical prosperity. The passion for physical comforts is +essentially a passion of the middle classes: with those classes +it grows and spreads, with them it preponderates. From them it +mounts into the higher orders of society, and descends into the +mass of the people. I never met in America with any citizen so +poor as not to cast a glance of hope and envy on the enjoyments +of the rich, or whose imagination did not possess itself by +anticipation of those good things which fate still obstinately +withheld from him. On the other hand, I never perceived amongst +the wealthier inhabitants of the United States that proud +contempt of physical gratifications which is sometimes to be met +with even in the most opulent and dissolute aristocracies. Most +of these wealthy persons were once poor; they have felt the sting +of want; they were long a prey to adverse fortunes; and now that +the victory is won, the passions which accompanied the contest +have survived it: their minds are, as it were, intoxicated by the +small enjoyments which they have pursued for forty years. Not but +that in the United States, as elsewhere, there are a certain +number of wealthy persons who, having come into their property by +inheritance, possess, without exertion, an opulence they have not +earned. But even these men are not less devotedly attached to +the pleasures of material life. The love of well-being is now +become the predominant taste of the nation; the great current of +man's passions runs in that channel, and sweeps everything along +in its course. + +Chapter XI: Peculiar Effects Of The Love Of Physical +Gratifications In Democratic Ages + +It may be supposed, from what has just been said, that the +love of physical gratifications must constantly urge the +Americans to irregularities in morals, disturb the peace of +families, and threaten the security of society at large. Such is +not the case: the passion for physical gratifications produces in +democracies effects very different from those which it occasions +in aristocratic nations. It sometimes happens that, wearied with +public affairs and sated with opulence, amidst the ruin of +religious belief and the decline of the State, the heart of an +aristocracy may by degrees be seduced to the pursuit of sensual +enjoyments only. At other times the power of the monarch or the +weakness of the people, without stripping the nobility of their +fortune, compels them to stand aloof from the administration of +affairs, and whilst the road to mighty enterprise is closed, +abandons them to the inquietude of their own desires; they then +fall back heavily upon themselves, and seek in the pleasures of +the body oblivion of their former greatness. When the members of +an aristocratic body are thus exclusively devoted to the pursuit +of physical gratifications, they commonly concentrate in that +direction all the energy which they derive from their long +experience of power. Such men are not satisfied with the pursuit +of comfort; they require sumptuous depravity and splendid +corruption. The worship they pay the senses is a gorgeous one; +and they seem to vie with each other in the art of degrading +their own natures. The stronger, the more famous, and the more +free an aristocracy has been, the more depraved will it then +become; and however brilliant may have been the lustre of its +virtues, I dare predict that they will always be surpassed by the +splendor of its vices. + +The taste for physical gratifications leads a democratic +people into no such excesses. The love of well-being is there +displayed as a tenacious, exclusive, universal passion; but its +range is confined. To build enormous palaces, to conquer or to +mimic nature, to ransack the world in order to gratify the +passions of a man, is not thought of: but to add a few roods of +land to your field, to plant an orchard, to enlarge a dwelling, +to be always making life more comfortable and convenient, to +avoid trouble, and to satisfy the smallest wants without effort +and almost without cost. These are small objects, but the soul +clings to them; it dwells upon them closely and day by day, till +they at last shut out the rest of the world, and sometimes +intervene between itself and heaven. + +This, it may be said, can only be applicable to those +members of the community who are in humble circumstances; +wealthier individuals will display tastes akin to those which +belonged to them in aristocratic ages. I contest the +proposition: in point of physical gratifications, the most +opulent members of a democracy will not display tastes very +different from those of the people; whether it be that, springing +from the people, they really share those tastes, or that they +esteem it a duty to submit to them. In democratic society the +sensuality of the public has taken a moderate and tranquil +course, to which all are bound to conform: it is as difficult to +depart from the common rule by one's vices as by one's virtues. +Rich men who live amidst democratic nations are therefore more +intent on providing for their smallest wants than for their +extraordinary enjoyments; they gratify a number of petty desires, +without indulging in any great irregularities of passion: thus +they are more apt to become enervated than debauched. +The especial taste which the men of democratic ages +entertain for physical enjoyments is not naturally opposed to the +principles of public order; nay, it often stands in need of order +that it may be gratified. Nor is it adverse to regularity of +morals, for good morals contribute to public tranquillity and are +favorable to industry. It may even be frequently combined with a +species of religious morality: men wish to be as well off as they +can in this world, without foregoing their chance of another. +Some physical gratifications cannot be indulged in without crime; +from such they strictly abstain. The enjoyment of others is +sanctioned by religion and morality; to these the heart, the +imagination, and life itself are unreservedly given up; till, in +snatching at these lesser gifts, men lose sight of those more +precious possessions which constitute the glory and the greatness +of mankind. The reproach I address to the principle of equality, +is not that it leads men away in the pursuit of forbidden +enjoyments, but that it absorbs them wholly in quest of those +which are allowed. By these means, a kind of virtuous +materialism may ultimately be established in the world, which +would not corrupt, but enervate the soul, and noiselessly unbend +its springs of action. + +Chapter XII: Causes Of Fanatical Enthusiasm In Some Americans + +Although the desire of acquiring the good things of this +world is the prevailing passion of the American people, certain +momentary outbreaks occur, when their souls seem suddenly to +burst the bonds of matter by which they are restrained, and to +soar impetuously towards heaven. In all the States of the Union, +but especially in the half-peopled country of the Far West, +wandering preachers may be met with who hawk about the word of +God from place to place. Whole families - old men, women, and +children - cross rough passes and untrodden wilds, coming from a +great distance, to join a camp- meeting, where they totally +forget for several days and nights, in listening to these +discourses, the cares of business and even the most urgent wants +of the body. Here and there, in the midst of American society, +you meet with men, full of a fanatical and almost wild +enthusiasm, which hardly exists in Europe. From time to time +strange sects arise, which endeavor to strike out extraordinary +paths to eternal happiness. Religious insanity is very common in +the United States. + +Nor ought these facts to surprise us. It was not man who +implanted in himself the taste for what is infinite and the love +of what is immortal: those lofty instincts are not the offspring +of his capricious will; their steadfast foundation is fixed in +human nature, and they exist in spite of his efforts. He may +cross and distort them - destroy them he cannot. The soul has +wants which must be satisfied; and whatever pains be taken to +divert it from itself, it soon grows weary, restless, and +disquieted amidst the enjoyments of sense. If ever the faculties +of the great majority of mankind were exclusively bent upon the +pursuit of material objects, it might be anticipated that an +amazing reaction would take place in the souls of some men. They +would drift at large in the world of spirits, for fear of +remaining shackled by the close bondage of the body. + +It is not then wonderful if, in the midst of a community +whose thoughts tend earthward, a small number of individuals are +to be found who turn their looks to heaven. I should be +surprised if mysticism did not soon make some advance amongst a +people solely engaged in promoting its own worldly welfare. It is +said that the deserts of the Thebaid were peopled by the +persecutions of the emperors and the massacres of the Circus; I +should rather say that it was by the luxuries of Rome and the +Epicurean philosophy of Greece. If their social condition, their +present circumstances, and their laws did not confine the minds +of the Americans so closely to the pursuit of worldly welfare, it +is probable that they would display more reserve and more +experience whenever their attention is turned to things +immaterial, and that they would check themselves without +difficulty. But they feel imprisoned within bounds which they +will apparently never be allowed to pass. As soon as they have +passed these bounds, their minds know not where to fix +themselves, and they often rush unrestrained beyond the range of +common-sense. + +Chapter XIII: Causes Of The Restless Spirit Of Americans In The +Midst Of Their Prosperity + +In certain remote corners of the Old World you may still +sometimes stumble upon a small district which seems to have been +forgotten amidst the general tumult, and to have remained +stationary whilst everything around it was in motion. The +inhabitants are for the most part extremely ignorant and poor; +they take no part in the business of the country, and they are +frequently oppressed by the government; yet their countenances +are generally placid, and their spirits light. In America I saw +the freest and most enlightened men, placed in the happiest +circumstances which the world affords: it seemed to me as if a +cloud habitually hung upon their brow, and I thought them serious +and almost sad even in their pleasures. The chief reason of this +contrast is that the former do not think of the ills they endure +- the latter are forever brooding over advantages they do not +possess. It is strange to see with what feverish ardor the +Americans pursue their own welfare; and to watch the vague dread +that constantly torments them lest they should not have chosen +the shortest path which may lead to it. A native of the United +States clings to this world's goods as if he were certain never +to die; and he is so hasty in grasping at all within his reach, +that one would suppose he was constantly afraid of not living +long enough to enjoy them. He clutches everything, he holds +nothing fast, but soon loosens his grasp to pursue fresh +gratifications. + +In the United States a man builds a house to spend his +latter years in it, and he sells it before the roof is on: he +plants a garden, and lets it just as the trees are coming into +bearing: he brings a field into tillage, and leaves other men to +gather the crops: he embraces a profession, and gives it up: he +settles in a place, which he soon afterwards leaves, to carry his +changeable longings elsewhere. If his private affairs leave him +any leisure, he instantly plunges into the vortex of politics; +and if at the end of a year of unremitting labor he finds he has +a few days' vacation, his eager curiosity whirls him over the +vast extent of the United States, and he will travel fifteen +hundred miles in a few days, to shake off his happiness. Death at +length overtakes him, but it is before he is weary of his +bootless chase of that complete felicity which is forever on the +wing. + +At first sight there is something surprising in this strange +unrest of so many happy men, restless in the midst of abundance. +The spectacle itself is however as old as the world; the novelty +is to see a whole people furnish an exemplification of it. Their +taste for physical gratifications must be regarded as the +original source of that secret inquietude which the actions of +the Americans betray, and of that inconstancy of which they +afford fresh examples every day. He who has set his heart +exclusively upon the pursuit of worldly welfare is always in a +hurry, for he has but a limited time at his disposal to reach it, +to grasp it, and to enjoy it. The recollection of the brevity of +life is a constant spur to him. Besides the good things which he +possesses, he every instant fancies a thousand others which death +will prevent him from trying if he does not try them soon. This +thought fills him with anxiety, fear, and regret, and keeps his +mind in ceaseless trepidation, which leads him perpetually to +change his plans and his abode. If in addition to the taste for +physical well-being a social condition be superadded, in which +the laws and customs make no condition permanent, here is a great +additional stimulant to this restlessness of temper. Men will +then be seen continually to change their track, for fear of +missing the shortest cut to happiness. It may readily be +conceived that if men, passionately bent upon physical +gratifications, desire eagerly, they are also easily discouraged: +as their ultimate object is to enjoy, the means to reach that +object must be prompt and easy, or the trouble of acquiring the +gratification would be greater than the gratification itself. +Their prevailing frame of mind then is at once ardent and +relaxed, violent and enervated. Death is often less dreaded than +perseverance in continuous efforts to one end. + +The equality of conditions leads by a still straighter road +to several of the effects which I have here described. When all +the privileges of birth and fortune are abolished, when all +professions are accessible to all, and a man's own energies may +place him at the top of any one of them, an easy and unbounded +career seems open to his ambition, and he will readily persuade +himself that he is born to no vulgar destinies. But this is an +erroneous notion, which is corrected by daily experience. The +same equality which allows every citizen to conceive these lofty +hopes, renders all the citizens less able to realize them: it +circumscribes their powers on every side, whilst it gives freer +scope to their desires. Not only are they themselves powerless, +but they are met at every step by immense obstacles, which they +did not at first perceive. They have swept away the privileges +of some of their fellow-creatures which stood in their way, but +they have opened the door to universal competition: the barrier +has changed its shape rather than its position. When men are +nearly alike, and all follow the same track, it is very difficult +for any one individual to walk quick and cleave a way through the +dense throng which surrounds and presses him. This constant +strife between the propensities springing from the equality of +conditions and the means it supplies to satisfy them, harasses +and wearies the mind. + +It is possible to conceive men arrived at a degree of +freedom which should completely content them; they would then +enjoy their independence without anxiety and without impatience. +But men will never establish any equality with which they can be +contented. Whatever efforts a people may make, they will never +succeed in reducing all the conditions of society to a perfect +level; and even if they unhappily attained that absolute and +complete depression, the inequality of minds would still remain, +which, coming directly from the hand of God, will forever escape +the laws of man. However democratic then the social state and the +political constitution of a people may be, it is certain that +every member of the community will always find out several points +about him which command his own position; and we may foresee that +his looks will be doggedly fixed in that direction. When +inequality of conditions is the common law of society, the most +marked inequalities do not strike the eye: when everything is +nearly on the same level, the slightest are marked enough to hurt +it. Hence the desire of equality always becomes more insatiable +in proportion as equality is more complete. + +Amongst democratic nations men easily attain a certain +equality of conditions: they can never attain the equality they +desire. It perpetually retires from before them, yet without +hiding itself from their sight, and in retiring draws them on. +At every moment they think they are about to grasp it; it escapes +at every moment from their hold. They are near enough to see its +charms, but too far off to enjoy them; and before they have fully +tasted its delights they die. To these causes must be attributed +that strange melancholy which oftentimes will haunt the +inhabitants of democratic countries in the midst of their +abundance, and that disgust at life which sometimes seizes upon +them in the midst of calm and easy circumstances. Complaints are +made in France that the number of suicides increases; in America +suicide is rare, but insanity is said to be more common than +anywhere else. These are all different symptoms of the same +disease. The Americans do not put an end to their lives, however +disquieted they may be, because their religion forbids it; and +amongst them materialism may be said hardly to exist, +notwithstanding the general passion for physical gratification. +The will resists - reason frequently gives way. In democratic +ages enjoyments are more intense than in the ages of aristocracy, +and especially the number of those who partake in them is larger: +but, on the other hand, it must be admitted that man's hopes and +his desires are oftener blasted, the soul is more stricken and +perturbed, and care itself more keen. + + +Book Two - Chapters XIV-XIII + +Chapter XIV: Taste For Physical Gratifications United In America +To Love Of Freedom And Attention To Public Affairs + +When a democratic state turns to absolute monarchy, the +activity which was before directed to public and to private +affairs is all at once centred upon the latter: the immediate +consequence is, for some time, great physical prosperity; but +this impulse soon slackens, and the amount of productive industry +is checked. I know not if a single trading or manufacturing +people can be cited, from the Tyrians down to the Florentines and +the English, who were not a free people also. There is therefore +a close bond and necessary relation between these two elements - +freedom and productive industry. This proposition is generally +true of all nations, but especially of democratic nations. I +have already shown that men who live in ages of equality +continually require to form associations in order to procure the +things they covet; and, on the other hand, I have shown how great +political freedom improves and diffuses the art of association. +Freedom, in these ages, is therefore especially favorable to the +production of wealth; nor is it difficult to perceive that +despotism is especially adverse to the same result. The nature of +despotic power in democratic ages is not to be fierce or cruel, +but minute and meddling. Despotism of this kind, though it does +not trample on humanity, is directly opposed to the genius of +commerce and the pursuits of industry. + +Thus the men of democratic ages require to be free in order +more readily to procure those physical enjoyments for which they +are always longing. It sometimes happens, however, that the +excessive taste they conceive for these same enjoyments abandons +them to the first master who appears. The passion for worldly +welfare then defeats itself, and, without perceiving it, throws +the object of their desires to a greater distance. + +There is, indeed, a most dangerous passage in the history of +a democratic people. When the taste for physical gratifications +amongst such a people has grown more rapidly than their education +and their experience of free institutions, the time will come +when men are carried away, and lose all self-restraint, at the +sight of the new possessions they are about to lay hold upon. In +their intense and exclusive anxiety to make a fortune, they lose +sight of the close connection which exists between the private +fortune of each of them and the prosperity of all. It is not +necessary to do violence to such a people in order to strip them +of the rights they enjoy; they themselves willingly loosen their +hold. The discharge of political duties appears to them to be a +troublesome annoyance, which diverts them from their occupations +and business. If they be required to elect representatives, to +support the Government by personal service, to meet on public +business, they have no time - they cannot waste their precious +time in useless engagements: such idle amusements are unsuited to +serious men who are engaged with the more important interests of +life. These people think they are following the principle of +self-interest, but the idea they entertain of that principle is a +very rude one; and the better to look after what they call their +business, they neglect their chief business, which is to remain +their own masters. + +As the citizens who work do not care to attend to public +business, and as the class which might devote its leisure to +these duties has ceased to exist, the place of the Government is, +as it were, unfilled. If at that critical moment some able and +ambitious man grasps the supreme power, he will find the road to +every kind of usurpation open before him. If he does but attend +for some time to the material prosperity of the country, no more +will be demanded of him. Above all he must insure public +tranquillity: men who are possessed by the passion of physical +gratification generally find out that the turmoil of freedom +disturbs their welfare, before they discover how freedom itself +serves to promote it. If the slightest rumor of public commotion +intrudes into the petty pleasures of private life, they are +aroused and alarmed by it. The fear of anarchy perpetually haunts +them, and they are always ready to fling away their freedom at +the first disturbance. + +I readily admit that public tranquillity is a great good; +but at the same time I cannot forget that all nations have been +enslaved by being kept in good order. Certainly it is not to be +inferred that nations ought to despise public tranquillity; but +that state ought not to content them. A nation which asks +nothing of its government but the maintenance of order is already +a slave at heart - the slave of its own well-being, awaiting but +the hand that will bind it. By such a nation the despotism of +faction is not less to be dreaded than the despotism of an +individual. When the bulk of the community is engrossed by +private concerns, the smallest parties need not despair of +getting the upper hand in public affairs. At such times it is +not rare to see upon the great stage of the world, as we see at +our theatres, a multitude represented by a few players, who alone +speak in the name of an absent or inattentive crowd: they alone +are in action whilst all are stationary; they regulate everything +by their own caprice; they change the laws, and tyrannize at will +over the manners of the country; and then men wonder to see into +how small a number of weak and worthless hands a great people may +fall. + +Hitherto the Americans have fortunately escaped all the +perils which I have just pointed out; and in this respect they +are really deserving of admiration. Perhaps there is no country +in the world where fewer idle men are to be met with than in +America, or where all who work are more eager to promote their +own welfare. But if the passion of the Americans for physical +gratifications is vehement, at least it is not indiscriminating; +and reason, though unable to restrain it, still directs its +course. An American attends to his private concerns as if he +were alone in the world, and the next minute he gives himself up +to the common weal as if he had forgotten them. At one time he +seems animated by the most selfish cupidity, at another by the +most lively patriotism. The human heart cannot be thus divided. +The inhabitants of the United States alternately display so +strong and so similar a passion for their own welfare and for +their freedom, that it may be supposed that these passions are +united and mingled in some part of their character. And indeed +the Americans believe their freedom to be the best instrument and +surest safeguard of their welfare: they are attached to the one +by the other. They by no means think that they are not called +upon to take a part in the public weal; they believe, on the +contrary, that their chief business is to secure for themselves a +government which will allow them to acquire the things they +covet, and which will not debar them from the peaceful enjoyment +of those possessions which they have acquired. + +Chapter XV: That Religious Belief Sometimes Turns The Thoughts Of +The Americans To Immaterial Pleasures + +In the United States, on the seventh day of every week, the +trading and working life of the nation seems suspended; all +noises cease; a deep tranquillity, say rather the solemn calm of +meditation, succeeds the turmoil of the week, and the soul +resumes possession and contemplation of itself. Upon this day the +marts of traffic are deserted; every member of the community, +accompanied by his children, goes to church, where he listens to +strange language which would seem unsuited to his ear. He is +told of the countless evils caused by pride and covetousness: he +is reminded of the necessity of checking his desires, of the +finer pleasures which belong to virtue alone, and of the true +happiness which attends it. On his return home, he does not turn +to the ledgers of his calling, but he opens the book of Holy +Scripture; there he meets with sublime or affecting descriptions +of the greatness and goodness of the Creator, of the infinite +magnificence of the handiwork of God, of the lofty destinies of +man, of his duties, and of his immortal privileges. Thus it is +that the American at times steals an hour from himself; and +laying aside for a while the petty passions which agitate his +life, and the ephemeral interests which engross it, he strays at +once into an ideal world, where all is great, eternal, and pure. + +I have endeavored to point out in another part of this work +the causes to which the maintenance of the political institutions +of the Americans is attributable; and religion appeared to be one +of the most prominent amongst them. I am now treating of the +Americans in an individual capacity, and I again observe that +religion is not less useful to each citizen than to the whole +State. The Americans show, by their practice, that they feel the +high necessity of imparting morality to democratic communities by +means of religion. What they think of themselves in this respect +is a truth of which every democratic nation ought to be +thoroughly persuaded. + +I do not doubt that the social and political constitution of +a people predisposes them to adopt a certain belief and certain +tastes, which afterwards flourish without difficulty amongst +them; whilst the same causes may divert a people from certain +opinions and propensities, without any voluntary effort, and, as +it were, without any distinct consciousness, on their part. The +whole art of the legislator is correctly to discern beforehand +these natural inclinations of communities of men, in order to +know whether they should be assisted, or whether it may not be +necessary to check them. For the duties incumbent on the +legislator differ at different times; the goal towards which the +human race ought ever to be tending is alone stationary; the +means of reaching it are perpetually to be varied. + +If I had been born in an aristocratic age, in the midst of a +nation where the hereditary wealth of some, and the irremediable +penury of others, should equally divert men from the idea of +bettering their condition, and hold the soul as it were in a +state of torpor fixed on the contemplation of another world, I +should then wish that it were possible for me to rouse that +people to a sense of their wants; I should seek to discover more +rapid and more easy means for satisfying the fresh desires which +I might have awakened; and, directing the most strenuous efforts +of the human mind to physical pursuits, I should endeavor to +stimulate it to promote the well-being of man. If it happened +that some men were immoderately incited to the pursuit of riches, +and displayed an excessive liking for physical gratifications, I +should not be alarmed; these peculiar symptoms would soon be +absorbed in the general aspect of the people. + +The attention of the legislators of democracies is called to +other cares. Give democratic nations education and freedom, and +leave them alone. They will soon learn to draw from this world +all the benefits which it can afford; they will improve each of +the useful arts, and will day by day render life more +comfortable, more convenient, and more easy. Their social +condition naturally urges them in this direction; I do not fear +that they will slacken their course. + +But whilst man takes delight in this honest and lawful +pursuit of his wellbeing, it is to be apprehended that he may in +the end lose the use of his sublimest faculties; and that whilst +he is busied in improving all around him, he may at length +degrade himself. Here, and here only, does the peril lie. It +should therefore be the unceasing object of the legislators of +democracies, and of all the virtuous and enlightened men who live +there, to raise the souls of their fellow-citizens, and keep them +lifted up towards heaven. It is necessary that all who feel an +interest in the future destinies of democratic society should +unite, and that all should make joint and continual efforts to +diffuse the love of the infinite, a sense of greatness, and a +love of pleasures not of earth. If amongst the opinions of a +democratic people any of those pernicious theories exist which +tend to inculcate that all perishes with the body, let men by +whom such theories are professed be marked as the natural foes of +such a people. + +The materialists are offensive to me in many respects; their +doctrines I hold to be pernicious, and I am disgusted at their +arrogance. If their system could be of any utility to man, it +would seem to be by giving him a modest opinion of himself. But +these reasoners show that it is not so; and when they think they +have said enough to establish that they are brutes, they show +themselves as proud as if they had demonstrated that they are +gods. Materialism is, amongst all nations, a dangerous disease of +the human mind; but it is more especially to be dreaded amongst a +democratic people, because it readily amalgamates with that vice +which is most familiar to the heart under such circumstances. +Democracy encourages a taste for physical gratification: this +taste, if it become excessive, soon disposes men to believe that +all is matter only; and materialism, in turn, hurries them back +with mad impatience to these same delights: such is the fatal +circle within which democratic nations are driven round. It were +well that they should see the danger and hold back. + +Most religions are only general, simple, and practical means +of teaching men the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. +That is the greatest benefit which a democratic people derives, +from its belief, and hence belief is more necessary to such a +people than to all others. When therefore any religion has +struck its roots deep into a democracy, beware lest you disturb +them; but rather watch it carefully, as the most precious bequest +of aristocratic ages. Seek not to supersede the old religious +opinions of men by new ones; lest in the passage from one faith +to another, the soul being left for a while stripped of all +belief, the love of physical gratifications should grow upon it +and fill it wholly. + +The doctrine of metempsychosis is assuredly not more +rational than that of materialism; nevertheless if it were +absolutely necessary that a democracy should choose one of the +two, I should not hesitate to decide that the community would run +less risk of being brutalized by believing that the soul of man +will pass into the carcass of a hog, than by believing that the +soul of man is nothing at all. The belief in a supersensual and +immortal principle, united for a time to matter, is so +indispensable to man's greatness, that its effects are striking +even when it is not united to the doctrine of future reward and +punishment; and when it holds no more than that after death the +divine principle contained in man is absorbed in the Deity, or +transferred to animate the frame of some other creature. Men +holding so imperfect a belief will still consider the body as the +secondary and inferior portion of their nature, and they will +despise it even whilst they yield to its influence; whereas they +have a natural esteem and secret admiration for the immaterial +part of man, even though they sometimes refuse to submit to its +dominion. That is enough to give a lofty cast to their opinions +and their tastes, and to bid them tend with no interested motive, +and as it were by impulse, to pure feelings and elevated +thoughts. + +It is not certain that Socrates and his followers had very +fixed opinions as to what would befall man hereafter; but the +sole point of belief on which they were determined - that the +soul has nothing in common with the body, and survives it - was +enough to give the Platonic philosophy that sublime aspiration by +which it is distinguished. It is clear from the works of Plato, +that many philosophical writers, his predecessors or +contemporaries, professed materialism. These writers have not +reached us, or have reached us in mere fragments. The same thing +has happened in almost all ages; the greater part of the most +famous minds in literature adhere to the doctrines of a +supersensual philosophy. The instinct and the taste of the human +race maintain those doctrines; they save them oftentimes in spite +of men themselves, and raise the names of their defenders above +the tide of time. It must not then be supposed that at any +period or under any political condition, the passion for physical +gratifications, and the opinions which are superinduced by that +passion, can ever content a whole people. The heart of man is of +a larger mould: it can at once comprise a taste for the +possessions of earth and the love of those of heaven: at times it +may seem to cling devotedly to the one, but it will never be long +without thinking of the other. + +If it be easy to see that it is more particularly important +in democratic ages that spiritual opinions should prevail, it is +not easy to say by what means those who govern democratic nations +may make them predominate. I am no believer in the prosperity, +any more than in the durability, of official philosophies; and as +to state religions, I have always held, that if they be sometimes +of momentary service to the interests of political power, they +always, sooner or later, become fatal to the Church. Nor do I +think with those who assert, that to raise religion in the eyes +of the people, and to make them do honor to her spiritual +doctrines, it is desirable indirectly to give her ministers a +political influence which the laws deny them. I am so much alive +to the almost inevitable dangers which beset religious belief +whenever the clergy take part in public affairs, and I am so +convinced that Christianity must be maintained at any cost in the +bosom of modern democracies, that I had rather shut up the +priesthood within the sanctuary than allow them to step beyond +it. + +What means then remain in the hands of constituted +authorities to bring men back to spiritual opinions, or to hold +them fast to the religion by which those opinions are suggested? +My answer will do me harm in the eyes of politicians. I believe +that the sole effectual means which governments can employ in +order to have the doctrine of the immortality of the soul duly +respected, is ever to act as if they believed in it themselves; +and I think that it is only by scrupulous conformity to religious +morality in great affairs that they can hope to teach the +community at large to know, to love, and to observe it in the +lesser concerns of life. + +Chapter XVI: That Excessive Care Of Worldly Welfare May Impair +That Welfare + +There is a closer tie than is commonly supposed between the +improvement of the soul and the amelioration of what belongs to +the body. Man may leave these two things apart, and consider +each of them alternately; but he cannot sever them entirely +without at last losing sight of one and of the other. The beasts +have the same senses as ourselves, and very nearly the same +appetites. We have no sensual passions which are not common to +our race and theirs, and which are not to be found, at least in +the germ, in a dog as well as in a man. Whence is it then that +the animals can only provide for their first and lowest wants, +whereas we can infinitely vary and endlessly increase our +enjoyments? + +We are superior to the beasts in this, that we use our souls +to find out those material benefits to which they are only led by +instinct. In man, the angel teaches the brute the art of +contenting its desires. It is because man is capable of rising +above the things of the body, and of contemning life itself, of +which the beasts have not the least notion, that he can multiply +these same things of the body to a degree which inferior races +are equally unable to conceive. Whatever elevates, enlarges, and +expands the soul, renders it more capable of succeeding in those +very undertakings which concern it not. Whatever, on the other +hand, enervates or lowers it, weakens it for all purposes, the +chiefest, as well as the least, and threatens to render it almost +equally impotent for the one and for the other. Hence the soul +must remain great and strong, though it were only to devote its +strength and greatness from time to time to the service of the +body. If men were ever to content themselves with material +objects, it is probable that they would lose by degrees the art +of producing them; and they would enjoy them in the end, like the +brutes, without discernment and without improvement. + +Chapter XVII: That In Times Marked By Equality Of Conditions And +Sceptical Opinions, It Is Important To Remove To A Distance The +Objects Of Human Actions + +In the ages of faith the final end of life is placed beyond +life. The men of those ages therefore naturally, and in a manner +involuntarily, accustom themselves to fix their gaze for a long +course of years on some immovable object, towards which they are +constantly tending; and they learn by insensible degrees to +repress a multitude of petty passing desires, in order to be the +better able to content that great and lasting desire which +possesses them. When these same men engage in the affairs of +this world, the same habits may be traced in their conduct. They +are apt to set up some general and certain aim and end to their +actions here below, towards which all their efforts are directed: +they do not turn from day to day to chase some novel object of +desire, but they have settled designs which they are never weary +of pursuing. This explains why religious nations have so often +achieved such lasting results: for whilst they were thinking only +of the other world, they had found out the great secret of +success in this. Religions give men a general habit of conducting +themselves with a view to futurity: in this respect they are not +less useful to happiness in this life than to felicity hereafter; +and this is one of their chief political characteristics. + +But in proportion as the light of faith grows dim, the range +of man's sight is circumscribed, as if the end and aim of human +actions appeared every day to be more within his reach. When men +have once allowed themselves to think no more of what is to +befall them after life, they readily lapse into that complete and +brutal indifference to futurity, which is but too conformable to +some propensities of mankind. As soon as they have lost the +habit of placing their chief hopes upon remote events, they +naturally seek to gratify without delay their smallest desires; +and no sooner do they despair of living forever, than they are +disposed to act as if they were to exist but for a single day. +In sceptical ages it is always therefore to be feared that men +may perpetually give way to their daily casual desires; and that, +wholly renouncing whatever cannot be acquired without protracted +effort, they may establish nothing great, permanent, and calm. + +If the social condition of a people, under these +circumstances, becomes democratic, the danger which I here point +out is thereby increased. When everyone is constantly striving +to change his position - when an immense field for competition is +thrown open to all - when wealth is amassed or dissipated in the +shortest possible space of time amidst the turmoil of democracy, +visions of sudden and easy fortunes - of great possessions easily +won and lost - of chance, under all its forms - haunt the mind. +The instability of society itself fosters the natural instability +of man's desires. In the midst of these perpetual fluctuations +of his lot, the present grows upon his mind, until it conceals +futurity from his sight, and his looks go no further than the +morrow. + +In those countries in which unhappily irreligion and +democracy coexist, the most important duty of philosophers and of +those in power is to be always striving to place the objects of +human actions far beyond man's immediate range. Circumscribed by +the character of his country and his age, the moralist must learn +to vindicate his principles in that position. He must constantly +endeavor to show his contemporaries, that, even in the midst of +the perpetual commotion around them, it is easier than they think +to conceive and to execute protracted undertakings. He must +teach them that, although the aspect of mankind may have changed, +the methods by which men may provide for their prosperity in this +world are still the same; and that amongst democratic nations, as +well as elsewhere, it is only by resisting a thousand petty +selfish passions of the hour that the general and unquenchable +passion for happiness can be satisfied. + +The task of those in power is not less clearly marked out. +At all times it is important that those who govern nations should +act with a view to the future: but this is even more necessary in +democratic and sceptical ages than in any others. By acting +thus, the leading men of democracies not only make public affairs +prosperous, but they also teach private individuals, by their +example, the art of managing private concerns. Above all they +must strive as much as possible to banish chance from the sphere +of politics. The sudden and undeserved promotion of a courtier +produces only a transient impression in an aristocratic country, +because the aggregate institutions and opinions of the nation +habitually compel men to advance slowly in tracks which they +cannot get out of. But nothing is more pernicious than similar +instances of favor exhibited to the eyes of a democratic people: +they give the last impulse to the public mind in a direction +where everything hurries it onwards. At times of scepticism and +equality more especially, the favor of the people or of the +prince, which chance may confer or chance withhold, ought never +to stand in lieu of attainments or services. It is desirable +that every advancement should there appear to be the result of +some effort; so that no greatness should be of too easy +acquirement, and that ambition should be obliged to fix its gaze +long upon an object before it is gratified. Governments must +apply themselves to restore to men that love of the future with +which religion and the state of society no longer inspire them; +and, without saying so, they must practically teach the community +day by day that wealth, fame, and power are the rewards of labor +- that great success stands at the utmost range of long desires, +and that nothing lasting is obtained but what is obtained by +toil. When men have accustomed themselves to foresee from afar +what is likely to befall in the world and to feed upon hopes, +they can hardly confine their minds within the precise +circumference of life, and they are ready to break the boundary +and cast their looks beyond. I do not doubt that, by training +the members of a community to think of their future condition in +this world, they would be gradually and unconsciously brought +nearer to religious convictions. Thus the means which allow men, +up to a certain point, to go without religion, are perhaps after +all the only means we still possess for bringing mankind back by +a long and roundabout path to a state of faith. + +Chapter XVIII: That Amongst The Americans All Honest Callings Are +Honorable + +Amongst a democratic people, where there is no hereditary +wealth, every man works to earn a living, or has worked, or is +born of parents who have worked. The notion of labor is +therefore presented to the mind on every side as the necessary, +natural, and honest condition of human existence. Not only is +labor not dishonorable amongst such a people, but it is held in +honor: the prejudice is not against it, but in its favor. In the +United States a wealthy man thinks that he owes it to public +opinion to devote his leisure to some kind of industrial or +commercial pursuit, or to public business. He would think +himself in bad repute if he employed his life solely in living. +It is for the purpose of escaping this obligation to work, that +so many rich Americans come to Europe, where they find some +scattered remains of aristocratic society, amongst which idleness +is still held in honor. + +Equality of conditions not only ennobles the notion of labor +in men's estimation, but it raises the notion of labor as a +source of profit. In aristocracies it is not exactly labor that +is despised, but labor with a view to profit. Labor is honorific +in itself, when it is undertaken at the sole bidding of ambition +or of virtue. Yet in aristocratic society it constantly happens +that he who works for honor is not insensible to the attractions +of profit. But these two desires only intermingle in the +innermost depths of his soul: he carefully hides from every eye +the point at which they join; he would fain conceal it from +himself. In aristocratic countries there are few public officers +who do not affect to serve their country without interested +motives. Their salary is an incident of which they think but +little, and of which they always affect not to think at all. +Thus the notion of profit is kept distinct from that of labor; +however they may be united in point of fact, they are not thought +of together. + +In democratic communities these two notions are, on the +contrary, always palpably united. As the desire of well-being is +universal - as fortunes are slender or fluctuating - as everyone +wants either to increase his own resources, or to provide fresh +ones for his progeny, men clearly see that it is profit which, if +not wholly, at least partially, leads them to work. Even those +who are principally actuated by the love of fame are necessarily +made familiar with the thought that they are not exclusively +actuated by that motive; and they discover that the desire of +getting a living is mingled in their minds with the desire of +making life +illustrious. + +As soon as, on the one hand, labor is held by the whole +community to be an honorable necessity of man's condition, and, +on the other, as soon as labor is always ostensibly performed, +wholly or in part, for the purpose of earning remuneration, the +immense interval which separated different callings in +aristocratic societies disappears. If all are not alike, all at +least have one feature in common. No profession exists in which +men do not work for money; and the remuneration which is common +to them all gives them all an air of resemblance. This serves to +explain the opinions which the Americans entertain with respect +to different callings. In America no one is degraded because he +works, for everyone about him works also; nor is anyone +humiliated by the notion of receiving pay, for the President of +the United States also works for pay. He is paid for commanding, +other men for obeying orders. In the United States professions +are more or less laborious, more or less profitable; but they are +never either high or low: every honest calling is honorable. + + +Book Two - Chapters XIX-XX + +Chapter XIX: That Almost All The Americans Follow Industrial +Callings + +Agriculture is, perhaps, of all the useful arts that which +improves most slowly amongst democratic nations. Frequently, +indeed, it would seem to be stationary, because other arts are +making rapid strides towards perfection. On the other hand, +almost all the tastes and habits which the equality of condition +engenders naturally lead men to commercial and industrial +occupations. + +Suppose an active, enlightened, and free man, enjoying a +competency, but full of desires: he is too poor to live in +idleness; he is rich enough to feel himself protected from the +immediate fear of want, and he thinks how he can better his +condition. This man has conceived a taste for physical +gratifications, which thousands of his fellow-men indulge in +around him; he has himself begun to enjoy these pleasures, and he +is eager to increase his means of satisfying these tastes more +completely. But life is slipping away, time is urgent - to what +is he to turn? The cultivation of the ground promises an almost +certain result to his exertions, but a slow one; men are not +enriched by it without patience and toil. Agriculture is +therefore only suited to those who have already large, +superfluous wealth, or to those whose penury bids them only seek +a bare subsistence. The choice of such a man as we have supposed +is soon made; he sells his plot of ground, leaves his dwelling, +and embarks in some hazardous but lucrative calling. Democratic +communities abound in men of this kind; and in proportion as the +equality of conditions becomes greater, their multitude +increases. Thus democracy not only swells the number of +workingmen, but it leads men to prefer one kind of labor to +another; and whilst it diverts them from agriculture, it +encourages their taste for commerce and manufactures. *a + +[Footnote a: It has often been remarked that manufacturers and +mercantile men are inordinately addicted to physical +gratifications, and this has been attributed to commerce and +manufactures; but that is, I apprehend, to take the effect for +the cause. The taste for physical gratifications is not imparted +to men by commerce or manufactures, but it is rather this taste +which leads men to embark in commerce and manufactures, as a +means by which they hope to satisfy themselves more promptly and +more completely. If commerce and manufactures increase the +desire of well-being, it is because every passion gathers +strength in proportion as it is cultivated, and is increased by +all the efforts made to satiate it. All the causes which make +the love of worldly welfare predominate in the heart of man are +favorable to the growth of commerce and manufactures. Equality +of conditions is one of those causes; it encourages trade, not +directly by giving men a taste for business, but indirectly by +strengthening and expanding in their minds a taste for +prosperity.] + +This spirit may be observed even amongst the richest members +of the community. In democratic countries, however opulent a man +is supposed to be, he is almost always discontented with his +fortune, because he finds that he is less rich than his father +was, and he fears that his sons will be less rich than himself. +Most rich men in democracies are therefore constantly haunted by +the desire of obtaining wealth, and they naturally turn their +attention to trade and manufactures, which appear to offer the +readiest and most powerful means of success. In this respect +they share the instincts of the poor, without feeling the same +necessities; say rather, they feel the most imperious of all +necessities, that of not sinking in the world. + +In aristocracies the rich are at the same time those who +govern. The attention which they unceasingly devote to important +public affairs diverts them from the lesser cares which trade and +manufactures demand. If the will of an individual happens, +nevertheless, to turn his attention to business, the will of the +body to which he belongs will immediately debar him from pursuing +it; for however men may declaim against the rule of numbers, they +cannot wholly escape their sway; and even amongst those +aristocratic bodies which most obstinately refuse to acknowledge +the rights of the majority of the nation, a private majority is +formed which governs the rest. *b + +[Footnote b: Some aristocracies, however, have devoted themselves +eagerly to commerce, and have cultivated manufactures with +success. The history of the world might furnish several +conspicuous examples. But, generally speaking, it may be +affirmed that the aristocratic principle is not favorable to the +growth of trade and manufactures. Moneyed aristocracies are the +only exception to the rule. Amongst such aristocracies there are +hardly any desires which do not require wealth to satisfy them; +the love of riches becomes, so to speak, the high road of human +passions, which is crossed by or connected with all lesser +tracks. The love of money and the thirst for that distinction +which attaches to power, are then so closely intermixed in the +same souls, that it becomes difficult to discover whether men +grow covetous from ambition, or whether they are ambitious from +covetousness. This is the case in England, where men seek to get +rich in order to arrive at distinction, and seek distinctions as +a manifestation of their wealth. The mind is then seized by both +ends, and hurried into trade and manufactures, which are the +shortest roads that lead to opulence. + +This, however, strikes me as an exceptional and transitory +circumstance. When wealth is become the only symbol of +aristocracy, it is very difficult for the wealthy to maintain +sole possession of political power, to the exclusion of all other +men. The aristocracy of birth and pure democracy are at the two +extremes of the social and political state of nations: between +them moneyed aristocracy finds its place. The latter +approximates to the aristocracy of birth by conferring great +privileges on a small number of persons; it so far belongs to the +democratic element, that these privileges may be successively +acquired by all. It frequently forms a natural transition +between these two conditions of society, and it is difficult to +say whether it closes the reign of aristocratic institutions, or +whether it already opens the new era of democracy.] + +In democratic countries, where money does not lead those who +possess it to political power, but often removes them from it, +the rich do not know how to spend their leisure. They are driven +into active life by the inquietude and the greatness of their +desires, by the extent of their resources, and by the taste for +what is extraordinary, which is almost always felt by those who +rise, by whatsoever means, above the crowd. Trade is the only +road open to them. In democracies nothing is more great or more +brilliant than commerce: it attracts the attention of the public, +and fills the imagination of the multitude; all energetic +passions are directed towards it. Neither their own prejudices, +nor those of anybody else, can prevent the rich from devoting +themselves to it. The wealthy members of democracies never form +a body which has manners and regulations of its own; the opinions +peculiar to their class do not restrain them, and the common +opinions of their country urge them on. Moreover, as all the +large fortunes which are to be met with in a democratic community +are of commercial growth, many generations must succeed each +other before their possessors can have entirely laid aside their +habits of business. + +Circumscribed within the narrow space which politics leave +them, rich men in democracies eagerly embark in commercial +enterprise: there they can extend and employ their natural +advantages; and indeed it is even by the boldness and the +magnitude of their industrial speculations that we may measure +the slight esteem in which productive industry would have been +held by them, if they had been born amidst an aristocracy. + +A similar observation is likewise applicable to all men +living in democracies, whether they be poor or rich. Those who +live in the midst of democratic fluctuations have always before +their eyes the phantom of chance; and they end by liking all +undertakings in which chance plays a part. They are therefore +all led to engage in commerce, not only for the sake of the +profit it holds out to them, but for the love of the constant +excitement occasioned by that pursuit. + +The United States of America have only been emancipated for +half a century [in 1840] from the state of colonial dependence in +which they stood to Great Britain; the number of large fortunes +there is small, and capital is still scarce. Yet no people in +the world has made such rapid progress in trade and manufactures +as the Americans: they constitute at the present day the second +maritime nation in the world; and although their manufactures +have to struggle with almost insurmountable natural impediments, +they are not prevented from making great and daily advances. In +the United States the greatest undertakings and speculations are +executed without difficulty, because the whole population is +engaged in productive industry, and because the poorest as well +as the most opulent members of the commonwealth are ready to +combine their efforts for these purposes. The consequence is, +that a stranger is constantly amazed by the immense public works +executed by a nation which contains, so to speak, no rich men. +The Americans arrived but as yesterday on the territory which +they inhabit, and they have already changed the whole order of +nature for their own advantage. They have joined the Hudson to +the Mississippi, and made the Atlantic Ocean communicate with the +Gulf of Mexico, across a continent of more than five hundred +leagues in extent which separates the two seas. The longest +railroads which have been constructed up to the present time are +in America. But what most astonishes me in the United States, is +not so much the marvellous grandeur of some undertakings, as the +innumerable multitude of small ones. Almost all the farmers of +the United States combine some trade with agriculture; most of +them make agriculture itself a trade. It seldom happens that an +American farmer settles for good upon the land which he occupies: +especially in the districts of the Far West he brings land into +tillage in order to sell it again, and not to farm it: he builds +a farmhouse on the speculation that, as the state of the country +will soon be changed by the increase of population, a good price +will be gotten for it. Every year a swarm of the inhabitants of +the North arrive in the Southern States, and settle in the parts +where the cotton plant and the sugar-cane grow. These men +cultivate the soil in order to make it produce in a few years +enough to enrich them; and they already look forward to the time +when they may return home to enjoy the competency thus acquired. +Thus the Americans carry their business- like qualities into +agriculture; and their trading passions are displayed in that as +in their other pursuits. + +The Americans make immense progress in productive industry, +because they all devote themselves to it at once; and for this +same reason they are exposed to very unexpected and formidable +embarrassments. As they are all engaged in commerce, their +commercial affairs are affected by such various and complex +causes that it is impossible to foresee what difficulties may +arise. As they are all more or less engaged in productive +industry, at the least shock given to business all private +fortunes are put in jeopardy at the same time, and the State is +shaken. I believe that the return of these commercial panics is +an endemic disease of the democratic nations of our age. It may +be rendered less dangerous, but it cannot be cured; because it +does not originate in accidental circumstances, but in the +temperament of these nations. + +Chapter XX: That Aristocracy May Be Engendered By Manufactures + +I have shown that democracy is favorable to the growth of +manufactures, and that it increases without limit the numbers of +the manufacturing classes: we shall now see by what side road +manufacturers may possibly in their turn bring men back to +aristocracy. It is acknowledged that when a workman is engaged +every day upon the same detail, the whole commodity is produced +with greater ease, promptitude, and economy. It is likewise +acknowledged that the cost of the production of manufactured +goods is diminished by the extent of the establishment in which +they are made, and by the amount of capital employed or of +credit. These truths had long been imperfectly discerned, but in +our time they have been demonstrated. They have been already +applied to many very important kinds of manufactures, and the +humblest will gradually be governed by them. I know of nothing +in politics which deserves to fix the attention of the legislator +more closely than these two new axioms of the science of +manufactures. + +When a workman is unceasingly and exclusively engaged in the +fabrication of one thing, he ultimately does his work with +singular dexterity; but at the same time he loses the general +faculty of applying his mind to the direction of the work. He +every day becomes more adroit and less industrious; so that it +may be said of him, that in proportion as the workman improves +the man is degraded. What can be expected of a man who has spent +twenty years of his life in making heads for pins? and to what +can that mighty human intelligence, which has so often stirred +the world, be applied in him, except it be to investigate the +best method of making pins' heads? When a workman has spent a +considerable portion of his existence in this manner, his +thoughts are forever set upon the object of his daily toil; his +body has contracted certain fixed habits, which it can never +shake off: in a word, he no longer belongs to himself, but to the +calling which he has chosen. It is in vain that laws and manners +have been at the pains to level all barriers round such a man, +and to open to him on every side a thousand different paths to +fortune; a theory of manufactures more powerful than manners and +laws binds him to a craft, and frequently to a spot, which he +cannot leave: it assigns to him a certain place in society, +beyond which he cannot go: in the midst of universal movement it +has rendered him stationary. + +In proportion as the principle of the division of labor is +more extensively applied, the workman becomes more weak, more +narrow-minded, and more dependent. The art advances, the artisan +recedes. On the other hand, in proportion as it becomes more +manifest that the productions of manufactures are by so much the +cheaper and better as the manufacture is larger and the amount of +capital employed more considerable, wealthy and educated men come +forward to embark in manufactures which were heretofore abandoned +to poor or ignorant handicraftsmen. The magnitude of the efforts +required, and the importance of the results to be obtained, +attract them. Thus at the very time at which the science of +manufactures lowers the class of workmen, it raises the class of +masters. + +Whereas the workman concentrates his faculties more and more +upon the study of a single detail, the master surveys a more +extensive whole, and the mind of the latter is enlarged in +proportion as that of the former is narrowed. In a short time +the one will require nothing but physical strength without +intelligence; the other stands in need of science, and almost of +genius, to insure success. This man resembles more and more the +administrator of a vast empire - that man, a brute. The master +and the workman have then here no similarity, and their +differences increase every day. They are only connected as the +two rings at the extremities of a long chain. Each of them fills +the station which is made for him, and out of which he does not +get: the one is continually, closely, and necessarily dependent +upon the other, and seems as much born to obey as that other is +to command. What is this but aristocracy? + +As the conditions of men constituting the nation become more +and more equal, the demand for manufactured commodities becomes +more general and more extensive; and the cheapness which places +these objects within the reach of slender fortunes becomes a +great element of success. Hence there are every day more men of +great opulence and education who devote their wealth and +knowledge to manufactures; and who seek, by opening large +establishments, and by a strict division of labor, to meet the +fresh demands which are made on all sides. Thus, in proportion +as the mass of the nation turns to democracy, that particular +class which is engaged in manufactures becomes more aristocratic. +Men grow more alike in the one - more different in the other; and +inequality increases in the less numerous class in the same ratio +in which it decreases in the community. Hence it would appear, +on searching to the bottom, that aristocracy should naturally +spring out of the bosom of democracy. + +But this kind of aristocracy by no means resembles those +kinds which preceded it. It will be observed at once, that as it +applies exclusively to manufactures and to some manufacturing +callings, it is a monstrous exception in the general aspect of +society. The small aristocratic societies which are formed by +some manufacturers in the midst of the immense democracy of our +age, contain, like the great aristocratic societies of former +ages, some men who are very opulent, and a multitude who are +wretchedly poor. The poor have few means of escaping from their +condition and becoming rich; but the rich are constantly becoming +poor, or they give up business when they have realized a fortune. +Thus the elements of which the class of the poor is composed are +fixed; but the elements of which the class of the rich is +composed are not so. To say the truth, though there are rich men, +the class of rich men does not exist; for these rich individuals +have no feelings or purposes in common, no mutual traditions or +mutual hopes; there are therefore members, but no body. + +Not only are the rich not compactly united amongst +themselves, but there is no real bond between them and the poor. +Their relative position is not a permanent one; they are +constantly drawn together or separated by their interests. The +workman is generally dependent on the master, but not on any +particular master; these two men meet in the factory, but know +not each other elsewhere; and whilst they come into contact on +one point, they stand very wide apart on all others. The +manufacturer asks nothing of the workman but his labor; the +workman expects nothing from him but his wages. The one +contracts no obligation to protect, nor the other to defend; and +they are not permanently connected either by habit or by duty. +The aristocracy created by business rarely settles in the midst +of the manufacturing population which it directs; the object is +not to govern that population, but to use it. An aristocracy +thus constituted can have no great hold upon those whom it +employs; and even if it succeed in retaining them at one moment, +they escape the next; it knows not how to will, and it cannot +act. The territorial aristocracy of former ages was either bound +by law, or thought itself bound by usage, to come to the relief +of its serving-men, and to succor their distresses. But the +manufacturing aristocracy of our age first impoverishes and +debases the men who serve it, and then abandons them to be +supported by the charity of the public. This is a natural +consequence of what has been said before. Between the workmen +and the master there are frequent relations, but no real +partnership. + +I am of opinion, upon the whole, that the manufacturing +aristocracy which is growing up under our eyes is one of the +harshest which ever existed in the world; but at the same time it +is one of the most confined and least dangerous. Nevertheless +the friends of democracy should keep their eyes anxiously fixed +in this direction; for if ever a permanent inequality of +conditions and aristocracy again penetrate into the world, it may +be predicted that this is the channel by which they will enter. + + +Book Three - Chapters I-IV + +Influence Of Democracy On Manners, Properly So Called + +Chapter I: That Manners Are Softened As Social Conditions Become +More Equal + +We perceive that for several ages social conditions have +tended to equality, and we discover that in the course of the +same period the manners of society have been softened. Are these +two things merely contemporaneous, or does any secret link exist +between them, so that the one cannot go on without making the +other advance? Several causes may concur to render the manners +of a people less rude; but, of all these causes, the most +powerful appears to me to be the equality of conditions. +Equality of conditions and growing civility in manners are, then, +in my eyes, not only contemporaneous occurrences, but correlative +facts. When the fabulists seek to interest us in the actions of +beasts, they invest them with human notions and passions; the +poets who sing of spirits and angels do the same; there is no +wretchedness so deep, nor any happiness so pure, as to fill the +human mind and touch the heart, unless we are ourselves held up +to our own eyes under other features. + +This is strictly applicable to the subject upon which we are +at present engaged. When all men are irrevocably marshalled in +an aristocratic community, according to their professions, their +property, and their birth, the members of each class, considering +themselves as children of the same family, cherish a constant and +lively sympathy towards each other, which can never be felt in an +equal degree by the citizens of a democracy. But the same +feeling does not exist between the several classes towards each +other. Amongst an aristocratic people each caste has its own +opinions, feelings, rights, manners, and modes of living. Thus +the men of whom each caste is composed do not resemble the mass +of their fellow-citizens; they do not think or feel in the same +manner, and they scarcely believe that they belong to the same +human race. They cannot, therefore, thoroughly understand what +others feel, nor judge of others by themselves. Yet they are +sometimes eager to lend each other mutual aid; but this is not +contrary to my previous observation. These aristocratic +institutions, which made the beings of one and the same race so +different, nevertheless bound them to each other by close +political ties. Although the serf had no natural interest in the +fate of nobles, he did not the less think himself obliged to +devote his person to the service of that noble who happened to be +his lord; and although the noble held himself to be of a +different nature from that of his serfs, he nevertheless held +that his duty and his honor constrained him to defend, at the +risk of his own life, those who dwelt upon his domains. + +It is evident that these mutual obligations did not +originate in the law of nature, but in the law of society; and +that the claim of social duty was more stringent than that of +mere humanity. These services were not supposed to be due from +man to man, but to the vassal or to the lord. Feudal +institutions awakened a lively sympathy for the sufferings of +certain men, but none at all for the miseries of mankind. They +infused generosity rather than mildness into the manners of the +time, and although they prompted men to great acts of +self-devotion, they engendered no real sympathies; for real +sympathies can only exist between those who are alike; and in +aristocratic ages men acknowledge none but the members of their +own caste to be like themselves. + +When the chroniclers of the Middle Ages, who all belonged to +the aristocracy by birth or education, relate the tragical end of +a noble, their grief flows apace; whereas they tell you at a +breath, and without wincing, of massacres and tortures inflicted +on the common sort of people. Not that these writers felt +habitual hatred or systematic disdain for the people; war between +the several classes of the community was not yet declared. They +were impelled by an instinct rather than by a passion; as they +had formed no clear notion of a poor man's sufferings, they cared +but little for his fate. The same feelings animated the lower +orders whenever the feudal tie was broken. The same ages which +witnessed so many heroic acts of self-devotion on the part of +vassals for their lords, were stained with atrocious barbarities, +exercised from time to time by the lower classes on the higher. +It must not be supposed that this mutual insensibility arose +solely from the absence of public order and education; for traces +of it are to be found in the following centuries, which became +tranquil and enlightened whilst they remained aristocratic. In +1675 the lower classes in Brittany revolted at the imposition of +a new tax. These disturbances were put down with unexampled +atrocity. Observe the language in which Madame de Sevigne, a +witness of these horrors, relates them to her daughter: - + +"Aux Rochers, 30 Octobre, 1675. + +"Mon Dieu, ma fille, que votre lettre d'Aix est plaisante! +Au moins relisez vos lettres avant que de les envoyer; +laissez-vous surpendre a leur agrement, et consolez-vous par ce +plaisir de la peine que vous avez d'en tant ecrire. Vous avez +donc baise toute la Provence? il n'y aurait pas satisfaction a +baiser toute la Bretagne, a moins qu'on n'aimat a sentir le vin. +. . . Voulez-vous savoir des nouvelles de Rennes? On a fait une +taxe de cent mille ecus sur le bourgeois; et si on ne trouve +point cette somme dans vingt-quatre heures, elle sera doublee et +exigible par les soldats. On a chasse et banni toute une grand +rue, et defendu de les recueillir sous peine de la vie; de sorte +qu'on voyait tous ces miserables, veillards, femmes accouchees, +enfans, errer en pleurs au sortir de cette ville sans savoir ou +aller. On roua avant-hier un violon, qui avait commence la danse +et la pillerie du papier timbre; il a ete ecartele apres sa mort, +et ses quatre quartiers exposes aux quatre coins de la ville. On +a pris soixante bourgeois, et on commence demain les punitions. +Cette province est un bel exemple pour les autres, et surtout de +respecter les gouverneurs et les gouvernantes, et de ne point +jeter de pierres dans leur jardin. *a + +[Footnote a: To feel the point of this joke the reader should +recollect that Madame de Grignan was Gouvernante de Provence.] +"Madame de Tarente etait hier dans ces bois par un temps +enchante: il n'est question ni de chambre ni de collation; elle +entre par la barriere et s'en retourne de meme. . . ." + +In another letter she adds: - + +"Vous me parlez bien plaisamment de nos miseres; nous ne +sommes plus si roues; un en huit jours, pour entretenir la +justice. Il est vrai que la penderie me parait maintenant un +refraichissement. J'ai une tout autre idee de la justice, depuis +que je suis en ce pays. Vos galeriens me paraissent une societe +d'honnetes gens qui se sont retires du monde pour mener une vie +douce." + +It would be a mistake to suppose that Madame de Sevigne, who +wrote these lines, was a selfish or cruel person; she was +passionately attached to her children, and very ready to +sympathize in the sorrows of her friends; nay, her letters show +that she treated her vassals and servants with kindness and +indulgence. But Madame de Sevigne had no clear notion of +suffering in anyone who was not a person of quality. + +In our time the harshest man writing to the most insensible +person of his acquaintance would not venture wantonly to indulge +in the cruel jocularity which I have quoted; and even if his own +manners allowed him to do so, the manners of society at large +would forbid it. Whence does this arise? Have we more +sensibility than our forefathers? I know not that we have; but I +am sure that our insensibility is extended to a far greater range +of objects. When all the ranks of a community are nearly equal, +as all men think and feel in nearly the same manner, each of them +may judge in a moment of the sensations of all the others; he +casts a rapid glance upon himself, and that is enough. There is +no wretchedness into which he cannot readily enter, and a secret +instinct reveals to him its extent. It signifies not that +strangers or foes be the sufferers; imagination puts him in their +place; something like a personal feeling is mingled with his +pity, and makes himself suffer whilst the body of his +fellow-creature is in torture. In democratic ages men rarely +sacrifice themselves for one another; but they display general +compassion for the members of the human race. They inflict no +useless ills; and they are happy to relieve the griefs of others, +when they can do so without much hurting themselves; they are not +disinterested, but they are humane. + +Although the Americans have, in a manner, reduced egotism to +a social and philosophical theory, they are nevertheless +extremely open to compassion. In no country is criminal justice +administered with more mildness than in the United States. +Whilst the English seem disposed carefully to retain the bloody +traces of the dark ages in their penal legislation, the Americans +have almost expunged capital punishment from their codes. North +America is, I think, the only one country upon earth in which the +life of no one citizen has been taken for a political offence in +the course of the last fifty years. The circumstance which +conclusively shows that this singular mildness of the Americans +arises chiefly from their social condition, is the manner in +which they treat their slaves. Perhaps there is not, upon the +whole, a single European colony in the New World in which the +physical condition of the blacks is less severe than in the +United States; yet the slaves still endure horrid sufferings +there, and are constantly exposed to barbarous punishments. It is +easy to perceive that the lot of these unhappy beings inspires +their masters with but little compassion, and that they look upon +slavery, not only as an institution which is profitable to them, +but as an evil which does not affect them. Thus the same man who +is full of humanity towards his fellow-creatures when they are at +the same time his equals, becomes insensible to their afflictions +as soon as that equality ceases. His mildness should therefore +be attributed to the equality of conditions, rather than to +civilization and education. + +What I have here remarked of individuals is, to a certain +extent, applicable to nations. When each nation has its distinct +opinions, belief, laws, and customs, it looks upon itself as the +whole of mankind, and is moved by no sorrows but its own. Should +war break out between two nations animated by this feeling, it is +sure to be waged with great cruelty. At the time of their +highest culture, the Romans slaughtered the generals of their +enemies, after having dragged them in triumph behind a car; and +they flung their prisoners to the beasts of the Circus for the +amusement of the people. Cicero, who declaimed so vehemently at +the notion of crucifying a Roman citizen, had not a word to say +against these horrible abuses of victory. It is evident that in +his eyes a barbarian did not belong to the same human race as a +Roman. On the contrary, in proportion as nations become more like +each other, they become reciprocally more compassionate, and the +law of nations is mitigated. + +Chapter II: That Democracy Renders The Habitual Intercourse Of +The Americans Simple And Easy + +Democracy does not attach men strongly to each other; but it +places their habitual intercourse upon an easier footing. If two +Englishmen chance to meet at the Antipodes, where they are +surrounded by strangers whose language and manners are almost +unknown to them, they will first stare at each other with much +curiosity and a kind of secret uneasiness; they will then turn +away, or, if one accosts the other, they will take care only to +converse with a constrained and absent air upon very unimportant +subjects. Yet there is no enmity between these men; they have +never seen each other before, and each believes the other to be a +respectable person. Why then should they stand so cautiously +apart? We must go back to England to learn the reason. + +When it is birth alone, independent of wealth, which classes +men in society, everyone knows exactly what his own position is +upon the social scale; he does not seek to rise, he does not fear +to sink. In a community thus organized, men of different castes +communicate very little with each other; but if accident brings +them together, they are ready to converse without hoping or +fearing to lose their own position. Their intercourse is not +upon a footing of equality, but it is not constrained. When +moneyed aristocracy succeeds to aristocracy of birth, the case is +altered. The privileges of some are still extremely great, but +the possibility of acquiring those privileges is open to all: +whence it follows that those who possess them are constantly +haunted by the apprehension of losing them, or of other men's +sharing them; those who do not yet enjoy them long to possess +them at any cost, or, if they fail to appear at least to possess +them - which is not impossible. As the social importance of men +is no longer ostensibly and permanently fixed by blood, and is +infinitely varied by wealth, ranks still exist, but it is not +easy clearly to distinguish at a glance those who respectively +belong to them. Secret hostilities then arise in the community; +one set of men endeavor by innumerable artifices to penetrate, or +to appear to penetrate, amongst those who are above them; another +set are constantly in arms against these usurpers of their +rights; or rather the same individual does both at once, and +whilst he seeks to raise himself into a higher circle, he is +always on the defensive against the intrusion of those below him. + +Such is the condition of England at the present time; and I +am of opinion that the peculiarity before adverted to is +principally to be attributed to this cause. As aristocratic +pride is still extremely great amongst the English, and as the +limits of aristocracy are ill-defined, everybody lives in +constant dread lest advantage should be taken of his familiarity. +Unable to judge at once of the social position of those he meets, +an Englishman prudently avoids all contact with them. Men are +afraid lest some slight service rendered should draw them into an +unsuitable acquaintance; they dread civilities, and they avoid +the obtrusive gratitude of a stranger quite as much as his +hatred. Many people attribute these singular anti-social +propensities, and the reserved and taciturn bearing of the +English, to purely physical causes. I may admit that there is +something of it in their race, but much more of it is +attributable to their social condition, as is proved by the +contrast of the Americans. + +In America, where the privileges of birth never existed, and +where riches confer no peculiar rights on their possessors, men +unacquainted with each other are very ready to frequent the same +places, and find neither peril nor advantage in the free +interchange of their thoughts. If they meet by accident, they +neither seek nor avoid intercourse; their manner is therefore +natural, frank, and open: it is easy to see that they hardly +expect or apprehend anything from each other, and that they do +not care to display, any more than to conceal, their position in +the world. If their demeanor is often cold and serious, it is +never haughty or constrained; and if they do not converse, it is +because they are not in a humor to talk, not because they think +it their interest to be silent. In a foreign country two +Americans are at once friends, simply because they are Americans. +They are repulsed by no prejudice; they are attracted by their +common country. For two Englishmen the same blood is not enough; +they must be brought together by the same rank. The Americans +remark this unsociable mood of the English as much as the French +do, and they are not less astonished by it. Yet the Americans +are connected with England by their origin, their religion, their +language, and partially by their manners; they only differ in +their social condition. It may therefore be inferred that the +reserve of the English proceeds from the constitution of their +country much more than from that of its inhabitants. + +Chapter III: Why The Americans Show So Little Sensitiveness In +Their Own Country, And Are So Sensitive In Europe + +The temper of the Americans is vindictive, like that of all +serious and reflecting nations. They hardly ever forget an +offence, but it is not easy to offend them; and their resentment +is as slow to kindle as it is to abate. In aristocratic +communities where a small number of persons manage everything, +the outward intercourse of men is subject to settled conventional +rules. Everyone then thinks he knows exactly what marks of +respect or of condescension he ought to display, and none are +presumed to be ignorant of the science of etiquette. These +usages of the first class in society afterwards serve as a model +to all the others; besides which each of the latter lays down a +code of its own, to which all its members are bound to conform. +Thus the rules of politeness form a complex system of +legislation, which it is difficult to be perfectly master of, but +from which it is dangerous for anyone to deviate; so that men are +constantly exposed involuntarily to inflict or to receive bitter +affronts. But as the distinctions of rank are obliterated, as +men differing in education and in birth meet and mingle in the +same places of resort, it is almost impossible to agree upon the +rules of good breeding. As its laws are uncertain, to disobey +them is not a crime, even in the eyes of those who know what they +are; men attach more importance to intentions than to forms, and +they grow less civil, but at the same time less quarrelsome. +There are many little attentions which an American does not care +about; he thinks they are not due to him, or he presumes that +they are not known to be due: he therefore either does not +perceive a rudeness or he forgives it; his manners become less +courteous, and his character more plain and masculine. + +The mutual indulgence which the Americans display, and the +manly confidence with which they treat each other, also result +from another deeper and more general cause, which I have already +adverted to in the preceding chapter. In the United States the +distinctions of rank in civil society are slight, in political +society they are null; an American, therefore, does not think +himself bound to pay particular attentions to any of his fellow- +citizens, nor does he require such attentions from them towards +himself. As he does not see that it is his interest eagerly to +seek the company of any of his countrymen, he is slow to fancy +that his own company is declined: despising no one on account of +his station, he does not imagine that anyone can despise him for +that cause; and until he has clearly perceived an insult, he does +not suppose that an affront was intended. The social condition +of the Americans naturally accustoms them not to take offence in +small matters; and, on the other hand, the democratic freedom +which they enjoy transfuses this same mildness of temper into the +character of the nation. The political institutions of the +United States constantly bring citizens of all ranks into +contact, and compel them to pursue great undertakings in concert. +People thus engaged have scarcely time to attend to the details +of etiquette, and they are besides too strongly interested in +living harmoniously for them to stick at such things. They +therefore soon acquire a habit of considering the feelings and +opinions of those whom they meet more than their manners, and +they do not allow themselves to be annoyed by trifles. + +I have often remarked in the United States that it is not +easy to make a man understand that his presence may be dispensed +with; hints will not always suffice to shake him off. I +contradict an American at every word he says, to show him that +his conversation bores me; he instantly labors with fresh +pertinacity to convince me; I preserve a dogged silence, and he +thinks I am meditating deeply on the truths which he is uttering; +at last I rush from his company, and he supposes that some urgent +business hurries me elsewhere. This man will never understand +that he wearies me to extinction unless I tell him so: and the +only way to get rid of him is to make him my enemy for life. + +It appears surprising at first sight that the same man +transported to Europe suddenly becomes so sensitive and captious, +that I often find it as difficult to avoid offending him here as +it was to put him out of countenance. These two opposite effects +proceed from the same cause. Democratic institutions generally +give men a lofty notion of their country and of themselves. An +American leaves his country with a heart swollen with pride; on +arriving in Europe he at once finds out that we are not so +engrossed by the United States and the great people which +inhabits them as he had supposed, and this begins to annoy him. +He has been informed that the conditions of society are not equal +in our part of the globe, and he observes that among the nations +of Europe the traces of rank are not wholly obliterated; that +wealth and birth still retain some indeterminate privileges, +which force themselves upon his notice whilst they elude +definition. He is therefore profoundly ignorant of the place +which he ought to occupy in this half-ruined scale of classes, +which are sufficiently distinct to hate and despise each other, +yet sufficiently alike for him to be always confounding them. He +is afraid of ranging himself too high - still more is he afraid +of being ranged too low; this twofold peril keeps his mind +constantly on the stretch, and embarrasses all he says and does. +He learns from tradition that in Europe ceremonial observances +were infinitely varied according to different ranks; this +recollection of former times completes his perplexity, and he is +the more afraid of not obtaining those marks of respect which are +due to him, as he does not exactly know in what they consist. He +is like a man surrounded by traps: society is not a recreation +for him, but a serious toil: he weighs your least actions, +interrogates your looks, and scrutinizes all you say, lest there +should be some hidden allusion to affront him. I doubt whether +there was ever a provincial man of quality so punctilious in +breeding as he is: he endeavors to attend to the slightest rules +of etiquette, and does not allow one of them to be waived towards +himself: he is full of scruples and at the same time of +pretensions; he wishes to do enough, but fears to do too much; +and as he does not very well know the limits of the one or of the +other, he keeps up a haughty and embarrassed air of reserve. + +But this is not all: here is yet another double of the human +heart. An American is forever talking of the admirable equality +which prevails in the United States; aloud he makes it the boast +of his country, but in secret he deplores it for himself; and he +aspires to show that, for his part, he is an exception to the +general state of things which he vaunts. There is hardly an +American to be met with who does not claim some remote kindred +with the first founders of the colonies; and as for the scions of +the noble families of England, America seemed to me to be covered +with them. When an opulent American arrives in Europe, his first +care is to surround himself with all the luxuries of wealth: he +is so afraid of being taken for the plain citizen of a democracy, +that he adopts a hundred distorted ways of bringing some new +instance of his wealth before you every day. His house will be +in the most fashionable part of the town: he will always be +surrounded by a host of servants. I have heard an American +complain, that in the best houses of Paris the society was rather +mixed; the taste which prevails there was not pure enough for +him; and he ventured to hint that, in his opinion, there was a +want of elegance of manner; he could not accustom himself to see +wit concealed under such unpretending forms. + +These contrasts ought not to surprise us. If the vestiges +of former aristocratic distinctions were not so completely +effaced in the United States, the Americans would be less simple +and less tolerant in their own country -they would require less, +and be less fond of borrowed manners in ours. + +Chapter IV: Consequences Of The Three Preceding Chapters + +When men feel a natural compassion for their mutual +sufferings - when they are brought together by easy and frequent +intercourse, and no sensitive feelings keep them asunder - it may +readily be supposed that they will lend assistance to one another +whenever it is needed. When an American asks for the +co-operation of his fellow-citizens it is seldom refused, and I +have often seen it afforded spontaneously and with great +goodwill. If an accident happens on the highway, everybody +hastens to help the sufferer; if some great and sudden calamity +befalls a family, the purses of a thousand strangers are at once +willingly opened, and small but numerous donations pour in to +relieve their distress. It often happens amongst the most +civilized nations of the globe, that a poor wretch is as +friendless in the midst of a crowd as the savage in his wilds: +this is hardly ever the case in the United States. The +Americans, who are always cold and often coarse in their manners, +seldom show insensibility; and if they do not proffer services +eagerly, yet they do not refuse to render them. + +All this is not in contradiction to what I have said before +on the subject of individualism. The two things are so far from +combating each other, that I can see how they agree. Equality of +conditions, whilst it makes men feel their independence, shows +them their own weakness: they are free, but exposed to a thousand +accidents; and experience soon teaches them that, although they +do not habitually require the assistance of others, a time almost +always comes when they cannot do without it. We constantly see +in Europe that men of the same profession are ever ready to +assist each other; they are all exposed to the same ills, and +that is enough to teach them to seek mutual preservatives, +however hard- hearted and selfish they may otherwise be. When +one of them falls into danger, from which the others may save him +by a slight transient sacrifice or a sudden effort, they do not +fail to make the attempt. Not that they are deeply interested in +his fate; for if, by chance, their exertions are unavailing, they +immediately forget the object of them, and return to their own +business; but a sort of tacit and almost involuntary agreement +has been passed between them, by which each one owes to the +others a temporary support which he may claim for himself in +turn. Extend to a people the remark here applied to a class, and +you will understand my meaning. A similar covenant exists in +fact between all the citizens of a democracy: they all feel +themselves subject to the same weakness and the same dangers; and +their interest, as well as their sympathy, makes it a rule with +them to lend each other mutual assistance when required. The more +equal social conditions become, the more do men display this +reciprocal disposition to oblige each other. In democracies no +great benefits are conferred, but good offices are constantly +rendered: a man seldom displays self- devotion, but all men are +ready to be of service to one another. + +Book Three - Chapters V-VII + +Chapter V: How Democracy Affects nhe Relation Of Masters And +Servants + +An American who had travelled for a long time in Europe once +said to me, "The English treat their servants with a stiffness +and imperiousness of manner which surprise us; but on the other +hand the French sometimes treat their attendants with a degree of +familiarity or of politeness which we cannot conceive. It looks +as if they were afraid to give orders: the posture of the +superior and the inferior is ill-maintained." The remark was a +just one, and I have often made it myself. I have always +considered England as the country in the world where, in our +time, the bond of domestic service is drawn most tightly, and +France as the country where it is most relaxed. Nowhere have I +seen masters stand so high or so low as in these two countries. +Between these two extremes the Americans are to be placed. Such +is the fact as it appears upon the surface of things: to discover +the causes of that fact, it is necessary to search the matter +thoroughly. + +No communities have ever yet existed in which social +conditions have been so equal that there were neither rich nor +poor, and consequently neither masters nor servants. Democracy +does not prevent the existence of these two classes, but it +changes their dispositions and modifies their mutual relations. +Amongst aristocratic nations servants form a distinct class, not +more variously composed than that of masters. A settled order is +soon established; in the former as well as in the latter class a +scale is formed, with numerous distinctions or marked gradations +of rank, and generations succeed each other thus without any +change of position. These two communities are superposed one +above the other, always distinct, but regulated by analogous +principles. This aristocratic constitution does not exert a less +powerful influence on the notions and manners of servants than on +those of masters; and, although the effects are different, the +same cause may easily be traced. Both classes constitute small +communities in the heart of the nation, and certain permanent +notions of right and wrong are ultimately engendered amongst +them. The different acts of human life are viewed by one +particular and unchanging light. In the society of servants, as +in that of masters, men exercise a great influence over each +other: they acknowledge settled rules, and in the absence of law +they are guided by a sort of public opinion: their habits are +settled, and their conduct is placed under a certain control. + +These men, whose destiny is to obey, certainly do not +understand fame, virtue, honesty, and honor in the same manner as +their masters; but they have a pride, a virtue, and an honesty +pertaining to their condition; and they have a notion, if I may +use the expression, of a sort of servile honor. *a Because a +class is mean, it must not be supposed that all who belong to it +are mean- hearted; to think so would be a great mistake. However +lowly it may be, he who is foremost there, and who has no notion +of quitting it, occupies an aristocratic position which inspires +him with lofty feelings, pride, and self-respect, that fit him +for the higher virtues and actions above the common. Amongst +aristocratic nations it was by no means rare to find men of noble +and vigorous minds in the service of the great, who felt not the +servitude they bore, and who submitted to the will of their +masters without any fear of their displeasure. But this was +hardly ever the case amongst the inferior ranks of domestic +servants. It may be imagined that he who occupies the lowest +stage of the order of menials stands very low indeed. The French +created a word on purpose to designate the servants of the +aristocracy - they called them lackeys. This word "lackey" +served as the strongest expression, when all others were +exhausted, to designate human meanness. Under the old French +monarchy, to denote by a single expression a low-spirited +contemptible fellow, it was usual to say that he had the "soul of +a lackey"; the term was enough to convey all that was intended. +[Footnote a: If the principal opinions by which men are guided +are examined closely and in detail, the analogy appears still +more striking, and one is surprised to find amongst them, just as +much as amongst the haughtiest scions of a feudal race, pride of +birth, respect for their ancestry and their descendants, disdain +of their inferiors, a dread of contact, a taste for etiquette, +precedents, and antiquity.] + +The permanent inequality of conditions not only gives +servants certain peculiar virtues and vices, but it places them +in a peculiar relation with respect to their masters. Amongst +aristocratic nations the poor man is familiarized from his +childhood with the notion of being commanded: to whichever side +he turns his eyes the graduated structure of society and the +aspect of obedience meet his view. Hence in those countries the +master readily obtains prompt, complete, respectful, and easy +obedience from his servants, because they revere in him not only +their master but the class of masters. He weighs down their will +by the whole weight of the aristocracy. He orders their actions - +to a certain extent he even directs their thoughts. In +aristocracies the master often exercises, even without being +aware of it, an amazing sway over the opinions, the habits, and +the manners of those who obey him, and his influence extends even +further than his authority. + +In aristocratic communities there are not only hereditary +families of servants as well as of masters, but the same families +of servants adhere for several generations to the same families +of masters (like two parallel lines which neither meet nor +separate); and this considerably modifies the mutual relations of +these two classes of persons. Thus, although in aristocratic +society the master and servant have no natural resemblance - +although, on the contrary, they are placed at an immense distance +on the scale of human beings by their fortune, education, and +opinions - yet time ultimately binds them together. They are +connected by a long series of common reminiscences, and however +different they may be, they grow alike; whilst in democracies, +where they are naturally almost alike, they always remain +strangers to each other. Amongst an aristocratic people the +master gets to look upon his servants as an inferior and +secondary part of himself, and he often takes an interest in +their lot by a last stretch of egotism. + +Servants, on their part, are not averse to regard themselves +in the same light; and they sometimes identify themselves with +the person of the master, so that they become an appendage to him +in their own eyes as well as in his. In aristocracies a servant +fills a subordinate position which he cannot get out of; above +him is another man, holding a superior rank which he cannot lose. +On one side are obscurity, poverty, obedience for life; on the +other, and also for life, fame, wealth, and command. The two +conditions are always distinct and always in propinquity; the tie +that connects them is as lasting as they are themselves. In this +predicament the servant ultimately detaches his notion of +interest from his own person; he deserts himself, as it were, or +rather he transports himself into the character of his master, +and thus assumes an imaginary personality. He complacently +invests himself with the wealth of those who command him; he +shares their fame, exalts himself by their rank, and feeds his +mind with borrowed greatness, to which he attaches more +importance than those who fully and really possess it. There is +something touching, and at the same time ridiculous, in this +strange confusion of two different states of being. These +passions of masters, when they pass into the souls of menials, +assume the natural dimensions of the place they occupy -they are +contracted and lowered. What was pride in the former becomes +puerile vanity and paltry ostentation in the latter. The +servants of a great man are commonly most punctilious as to the +marks of respect due to him, and they attach more importance to +his slightest privileges than he does himself. In France a few +of these old servants of the aristocracy are still to be met with +here and there; they have survived their race, which will soon +disappear with them altogether. In the United States I never saw +anyone at all like them. The Americans are not only unacquainted +with the kind of man, but it is hardly possible to make them +understand that such ever existed. It is scarcely less difficult +for them to conceive it, than for us to form a correct notion of +what a slave was amongst the Romans, or a serf in the Middle +Ages. All these men were in fact, though in different degrees, +results of the same cause: they are all retiring from our sight, +and disappearing in the obscurity of the past, together with the +social condition to which they owed their origin. + +Equality of conditions turns servants and masters into new +beings, and places them in new relative positions. When social +conditions are nearly equal, men are constantly changing their +situations in life: there is still a class of menials and a class +of masters, but these classes are not always composed of the same +individuals, still less of the same families; and those who +command are not more secure of perpetuity than those who obey. +As servants do not form a separate people, they have no habits, +prejudices, or manners peculiar to themselves; they are not +remarkable for any particular turn of mind or moods of feeling. +They know no vices or virtues of their condition, but they +partake of the education, the opinions, the feelings, the +virtues, and the vices of their contemporaries; and they are +honest men or scoundrels in the same way as their masters are. +The conditions of servants are not less equal than those of +masters. As no marked ranks or fixed subordination are to be +found amongst them, they will not display either the meanness or +the greatness which characterizes the aristocracy of menials as +well as all other aristocracies. I never saw a man in the United +States who reminded me of that class of confidential servants of +which we still retain a reminiscence in Europe, neither did I +ever meet with such a thing as a lackey: all traces of the one +and of the other have disappeared. + +In democracies servants are not only equal amongst +themselves, but it may be said that they are in some sort the +equals of their masters. This requires explanation in order to +be rightly understood. At any moment a servant may become a +master, and he aspires to rise to that condition: the servant is +therefore not a different man from the master. Why then has the +former a right to command, and what compels the latter to obey? - +the free and temporary consent of both their wills. Neither of +them is by nature inferior to the other; they only become so for +a time by covenant. Within the terms of this covenant, the one +is a servant, the other a master; beyond it they are two citizens +of the commonwealth - two men. I beg the reader particularly to +observe that this is not only the notion which servants +themselves entertain of their own condition; domestic service is +looked upon by masters in the same light; and the precise limits +of authority and obedience are as clearly settled in the mind of +the one as in that of the other. + +When the greater part of the community have long attained a +condition nearly alike, and when equality is an old and +acknowledged fact, the public mind, which is never affected by +exceptions, assigns certain general limits to the value of man, +above or below which no man can long remain placed. It is in +vain that wealth and poverty, authority and obedience, +accidentally interpose great distances between two men; public +opinion, founded upon the usual order of things, draws them to a +common level, and creates a species of imaginary equality between +them, in spite of the real inequality of their conditions. This +all-powerful opinion penetrates at length even into the hearts of +those whose interest might arm them to resist it; it affects +their judgment whilst it subdues their will. In their inmost +convictions the master and the servant no longer perceive any +deep-seated difference between them, and they neither hope nor +fear to meet with any such at any time. They are therefore +neither subject to disdain nor to anger, and they discern in each +other neither humility nor pride. The master holds the contract +of service to be the only source of his power, and the servant +regards it as the only cause of his obedience. They do not +quarrel about their reciprocal situations, but each knows his own +and keeps it. + +In the French army the common soldier is taken from nearly +the same classes as the officer, and may hold the same +commissions; out of the ranks he considers himself entirely equal +to his military superiors, and in point of fact he is so; but +when under arms he does not hesitate to obey, and his obedience +is not the less prompt, precise, and ready, for being voluntary +and defined. This example may give a notion of what takes place +between masters and servants in democratic communities. + +It would be preposterous to suppose that those warm and +deep- seated affections, which are sometimes kindled in the +domestic service of aristocracy, will ever spring up between +these two men, or that they will exhibit strong instances of +self-sacrifice. In aristocracies masters and servants live +apart, and frequently their only intercourse is through a third +person; yet they commonly stand firmly by one another. In +democratic countries the master and the servant are close +together; they are in daily personal contact, but their minds do +not intermingle; they have common occupations, hardly ever common +interests. Amongst such a people the servant always considers +himself as a sojourner in the dwelling of his masters. He knew +nothing of their forefathers - he will see nothing of their +descendants -he has nothing lasting to expect from their hand. +Why then should he confound his life with theirs, and whence +should so strange a surrender of himself proceed? The reciprocal +position of the two men is changed - their mutual relations must +be so too. + +I would fain illustrate all these reflections by the example +of the Americans; but for this purpose the distinctions of +persons and places must be accurately traced. In the South of +the Union, slavery exists; all that I have just said is +consequently inapplicable there. In the North, the majority of +servants are either freedmen or the children of freedmen; these +persons occupy a contested position in the public estimation; by +the laws they are brought up to the level of their masters - by +the manners of the country they are obstinately detruded from it. +They do not themselves clearly know their proper place, and they +are almost always either insolent or craven. But in the Northern +States, especially in New England, there are a certain number of +whites, who agree, for wages, to yield a temporary obedience to +the will of their fellow-citizens. I have heard that these +servants commonly perform the duties of their situation with +punctuality and intelligence; and that without thinking +themselves naturally inferior to the person who orders them, they +submit without reluctance to obey him. They appear to me to +carry into service some of those manly habits which independence +and equality engender. Having once selected a hard way of life, +they do not seek to escape from it by indirect means; and they +have sufficient respect for themselves, not to refuse to their +master that obedience which they have freely promised. On their +part, masters require nothing of their servants but the faithful +and rigorous performance of the covenant: they do not ask for +marks of respect, they do not claim their love or devoted +attachment; it is enough that, as servants, they are exact and +honest. It would not then be true to assert that, in democratic +society, the relation of servants and masters is disorganized: it +is organized on another footing; the rule is different, but there +is a rule. + +It is not my purpose to inquire whether the new state of +things which I have just described is inferior to that which +preceded it, or simply different. Enough for me that it is fixed +and determined: for what is most important to meet with among men +is not any given ordering, but order. But what shall I say of +those sad and troubled times at which equality is established in +the midst of the tumult of revolution - when democracy, after +having been introduced into the state of society, still struggles +with difficulty against the prejudices and manners of the +country? The laws, and partially public opinion, already declare +that no natural or permanent inferiority exists between the +servant and the master. But this new belief has not yet reached +the innermost convictions of the latter, or rather his heart +rejects it; in the secret persuasion of his mind the master +thinks that he belongs to a peculiar and superior race; he dares +not say so, but he shudders whilst he allows himself to be +dragged to the same level. His authority over his servants +becomes timid and at the same time harsh: he has already ceased +to entertain for them the feelings of patronizing kindness which +long uncontested power always engenders, and he is surprised +that, being changed himself, his servant changes also. He wants +his attendants to form regular and permanent habits, in a +condition of domestic service which is only temporary: he +requires that they should appear contented with and proud of a +servile condition, which they will one day shake off - that they +should sacrifice themselves to a man who can neither protect nor +ruin them - and in short that they should contract an +indissoluble engagement to a being like themselves, and one who +will last no longer than they will. + +Amongst aristocratic nations it often happens that the +condition of domestic service does not degrade the character of +those who enter upon it, because they neither know nor imagine +any other; and the amazing inequality which is manifest between +them and their master appears to be the necessary and unavoidable +consequence of some hidden law of Providence. In democracies the +condition of domestic service does not degrade the character of +those who enter upon it, because it is freely chosen, and adopted +for a time only; because it is not stigmatized by public opinion, +and creates no permanent inequality between the servant and the +master. But whilst the transition from one social condition to +another is going on, there is almost always a time when men's +minds fluctuate between the aristocratic notion of subjection and +the democratic notion of obedience. Obedience then loses its +moral importance in the eyes of him who obeys; he no longer +considers it as a species of divine obligation, and he does not +yet view it under its purely human aspect; it has to him no +character of sanctity or of justice, and he submits to it as to a +degrading but profitable condition. At that moment a confused +and imperfect phantom of equality haunts the minds of servants; +they do not at once perceive whether the equality to which they +are entitled is to be found within or without the pale of +domestic service; and they rebel in their hearts against a +subordination to which they have subjected themselves, and from +which they derive actual profit. They consent to serve, and they +blush to obey; they like the advantages of service, but not the +master; or rather, they are not sure that they ought not +themselves to be masters, and they are inclined to consider him +who orders them as an unjust usurper of their own rights. Then +it is that the dwelling of every citizen offers a spectacle +somewhat analogous to the gloomy aspect of political society. A +secret and intestine warfare is going on there between powers, +ever rivals and suspicious of one another: the master is +ill-natured and weak, the servant ill-natured and intractable; +the one constantly attempts to evade by unfair restrictions his +obligation to protect and to remunerate - the other his +obligation to obey. The reins of domestic government dangle +between them, to be snatched at by one or the other. The lines +which divide authority from oppression, liberty from license, and +right from might, are to their eyes so jumbled together and +confused, that no one knows exactly what he is, or what he may +be, or what he ought to be. Such a condition is not democracy, +but revolution. + +Chapter VI: That Democratic Institutions And Manners Tend To +Raise Rents And Shorten The Terms Of Leases + +What has been said of servants and masters is applicable, to +a certain extent, to landowners and farming tenants; but this +subject deserves to be considered by itself. In America there +are, properly speaking, no tenant farmers; every man owns the +ground he tills. It must be admitted that democratic laws tend +greatly to increase the number of landowners, and to diminish +that of farming tenants. Yet what takes place in the United +States is much less attributable to the institutions of the +country than to the country itself. In America land is cheap, +and anyone may easily become a landowner; its returns are small, +and its produce cannot well be divided between a landowner and a +farmer. America therefore stands alone in this as well as in +many other respects, and it would be a mistake to take it as an +example. + +I believe that in democratic as well as in aristocratic +countries there will be landowners and tenants, but the +connection existing between them will be of a different kind. In +aristocracies the hire of a farm is paid to the landlord, not +only in rent, but in respect, regard, and duty; in democracies +the whole is paid in cash. When estates are divided and passed +from hand to hand, and the permanent connection which existed +between families and the soil is dissolved, the landowner and the +tenant are only casually brought into contact. They meet for a +moment to settle the conditions of the agreement, and then lose +sight of each other; they are two strangers brought together by a +common interest, and who keenly talk over a matter of business, +the sole object of which is to make money. + +In proportion as property is subdivided and wealth +distributed over the country, the community is filled with people +whose former opulence is declining, and with others whose +fortunes are of recent growth and whose wants increase more +rapidly than their resources. For all such persons the smallest +pecuniary profit is a matter of importance, and none of them feel +disposed to waive any of their claims, or to lose any portion of +their income. As ranks are intermingled, and as very large as +well as very scanty fortunes become more rare, every day brings +the social condition of the landowner nearer to that of the +farmer; the one has not naturally any uncontested superiority +over the other; between two men who are equal, and not at ease in +their circumstances, the contract of hire is exclusively an +affair of money. A man whose estate extends over a whole +district, and who owns a hundred farms, is well aware of the +importance of gaining at the same time the affections of some +thousands of men; this object appears to call for his exertions, +and to attain it he will readily make considerable sacrifices. +But he who owns a hundred acres is insensible to similar +considerations, and he cares but little to win the private regard +of his tenant. + +An aristocracy does not expire like a man in a single day; +the aristocratic principle is slowly undermined in men's opinion, +before it is attacked in their laws. Long before open war is +declared against it, the tie which had hitherto united the higher +classes to the lower may be seen to be gradually relaxed. +Indifference and contempt are betrayed by one class, jealousy and +hatred by the others; the intercourse between rich and poor +becomes less frequent and less kind, and rents are raised. This +is not the consequence of a democratic revolution, but its +certain harbinger; for an aristocracy which has lost the +affections of the people, once and forever, is like a tree dead +at the root, which is the more easily torn up by the winds the +higher its branches have spread. + +In the course of the last fifty years the rents of farms +have amazingly increased, not only in France but throughout the +greater part of Europe. The remarkable improvements which have +taken place in agriculture and manufactures within the same +period do not suffice in my opinion to explain this fact; +recourse must be had to another cause more powerful and more +concealed. I believe that cause is to be found in the democratic +institutions which several European nations have adopted, and in +the democratic passions which more or less agitate all the rest. +I have frequently heard great English landowners congratulate +themselves that, at the present day, they derive a much larger +income from their estates than their fathers did. They have +perhaps good reasons to be glad; but most assuredly they know not +what they are glad of. They think they are making a clear gain, +when it is in reality only an exchange; their influence is what +they are parting with for cash; and what they gain in money will +ere long be lost in power. + +There is yet another sign by which it is easy to know that a +great democratic revolution is going on or approaching. In the +Middle Ages almost all lands were leased for lives, or for very +long terms; the domestic economy of that period shows that leases +for ninety-nine years were more frequent then than leases for +twelve years are now. Men then believed that families were +immortal; men's conditions seemed settled forever, and the whole +of society appeared to be so fixed, that it was not supposed that +anything would ever be stirred or shaken in its structure. In +ages of equality, the human mind takes a different bent; the +prevailing notion is that nothing abides, and man is haunted by +the thought of mutability. Under this impression the landowner +and the tenant himself are instinctively averse to protracted +terms of obligation; they are afraid of being tied up to-morrow +by the contract which benefits them today. They have vague +anticipations of some sudden and unforeseen change in their +conditions; they mistrust themselves; they fear lest their taste +should change, and lest they should lament that they cannot rid +themselves of what they coveted; nor are such fears unfounded, +for in democratic ages that which is most fluctuating amidst the +fluctuation of all around is the heart of man. + +Chapter VII: Influence Of Democracy On Wages + +Most of the remarks which I have already made in speaking of +servants and masters, may be applied to masters and workmen. As +the gradations of the social scale come to be less observed, +whilst the great sink the humble rise, and as poverty as well as +opulence ceases to be hereditary, the distance both in reality +and in opinion, which heretofore separated the workman from the +master, is lessened every day. The workman conceives a more +lofty opinion of his rights, of his future, of himself; he is +filled with new ambition and with new desires, he is harassed by +new wants. Every instant he views with longing eyes the profits +of his employer; and in order to share them, he strives to +dispose of his labor at a higher rate, and he generally succeeds +at length in the attempt. In democratic countries, as well as +elsewhere, most of the branches of productive industry are +carried on at a small cost, by men little removed by their wealth +or education above the level of those whom they employ. These +manufacturing speculators are extremely numerous; their interests +differ; they cannot therefore easily concert or combine their +exertions. On the other hand the workmen have almost always some +sure resources, which enable them to refuse to work when they +cannot get what they conceive to be the fair price of their +labor. In the constant struggle for wages which is going on +between these two classes, their strength is divided, and success +alternates from one to the other. It is even probable that in +the end the interest of the working class must prevail; for the +high wages which they have already obtained make them every day +less dependent on their masters; and as they grow more +independent, they have greater facilities for obtaining a further +increase of wages. + +I shall take for example that branch of productive industry +which is still at the present day the most generally followed in +France, and in almost all the countries of the world - I mean the +cultivation of the soil. In France most of those who labor for +hire in agriculture, are themselves owners of certain plots of +ground, which just enable them to subsist without working for +anyone else. When these laborers come to offer their services to +a neighboring landowner or farmer, if he refuses them a certain +rate of wages, they retire to their own small property and await +another opportunity. + +I think that, upon the whole, it may be asserted that a slow +and gradual rise of wages is one of the general laws of +democratic communities. In proportion as social conditions +become more equal, wages rise; and as wages are higher, social +conditions become more equal. But a great and gloomy exception +occurs in our own time. I have shown in a preceding chapter that +aristocracy, expelled from political society, has taken refuge in +certain departments of productive industry, and has established +its sway there under another form; this powerfully affects the +rate of wages. As a large capital is required to embark in the +great manufacturing speculations to which I allude, the number of +persons who enter upon them is exceedingly limited: as their +number is small, they can easily concert together, and fix the +rate of wages as they please. Their workmen on the contrary are +exceedingly numerous, and the number of them is always +increasing; for, from time to time, an extraordinary run of +business takes place, during which wages are inordinately high, +and they attract the surrounding population to the factories. +But, when once men have embraced that line of life, we have +already seen that they cannot quit it again, because they soon +contract habits of body and mind which unfit them for any other +sort of toil. These men have generally but little education and +industry, with but few resources; they stand therefore almost at +the mercy of the master. When competition, or other fortuitous +circumstances, lessen his profits, he can reduce the wages of his +workmen almost at pleasure, and make from them what he loses by +the chances of business. Should the workmen strike, the master, +who is a rich man, can very well wait without being ruined until +necessity brings them back to him; but they must work day by day +or they die, for their only property is in their hands. They +have long been impoverished by oppression, and the poorer they +become the more easily may they be oppressed: they can never +escape from this fatal circle of cause and consequence. It is +not then surprising that wages, after having sometimes suddenly +risen, are permanently lowered in this branch of industry; +whereas in other callings the price of labor, which generally +increases but little, is nevertheless constantly augmented. + +This state of dependence and wretchedness, in which a part +of the manufacturing population of our time lives, forms an +exception to the general rule, contrary to the state of all the +rest of the community; but, for this very reason, no circumstance +is more important or more deserving of the especial consideration +of the legislator; for when the whole of society is in motion, it +is difficult to keep any one class stationary; and when the +greater number of men are opening new paths to fortune, it is no +less difficult to make the few support in peace their wants and +their desires. + + +Book Three - Chapters VIII-X + +Chapter VIII: Influence Of Democracy On Kindred + +I have just examined the changes which the equality of +conditions produces in the mutual relations of the several +members of the community amongst democratic nations, and amongst +the Americans in particular. I would now go deeper, and inquire +into the closer ties of kindred: my object here is not to seek +for new truths, but to show in what manner facts already known +are connected with my subject. + +It has been universally remarked, that in our time the +several members of a family stand upon an entirely new footing +towards each other; that the distance which formerly separated a +father from his sons has been lessened; and that paternal +authority, if not destroyed, is at least impaired. Something +analogous to this, but even more striking, may be observed in the +United States. In America the family, in the Roman and +aristocratic signification of the word, does not exist. All that +remains of it are a few vestiges in the first years of childhood, +when the father exercises, without opposition, that absolute +domestic authority, which the feebleness of his children renders +necessary, and which their interest, as well as his own +incontestable superiority, warrants. But as soon as the young +American approaches manhood, the ties of filial obedience are +relaxed day by day: master of his thoughts, he is soon master of +his conduct. In America there is, strictly speaking, no +adolescence: at the close of boyhood the man appears, and begins +to trace out his own path. It would be an error to suppose that +this is preceded by a domestic struggle, in which the son has +obtained by a sort of moral violence the liberty that his father +refused him. The same habits, the same principles which impel the +one to assert his independence, predispose the other to consider +the use of that independence as an incontestable right. The +former does not exhibit any of those rancorous or irregular +passions which disturb men long after they have shaken off an +established authority; the latter feels none of that bitter and +angry regret which is apt to survive a bygone power. The father +foresees the limits of his authority long beforehand, and when +the time arrives he surrenders it without a struggle: the son +looks forward to the exact period at which he will be his own +master; and he enters upon his freedom without precipitation and +without effort, as a possession which is his own and which no one +seeks to wrest from him. *a + +[Footnote a: The Americans, however, have not yet thought fit to +strip the parent, as has been done in France, of one of the chief +elements of parental authority, by depriving him of the power of +disposing of his property at his death. In the United States +there are no restrictions on the powers of a testator. In this +respect, as in almost all others, it is easy to perceive, that if +the political legislation of the Americans is much more +democratic than that of the French, the civil legislation of the +latter is infinitely more democratic than that of the former. +This may easily be accounted for. The civil legislation of France +was the work of a man who saw that it was his interest to satisfy +the democratic passions of his contemporaries in all that was not +directly and immediately hostile to his own power. He was +willing to allow some popular principles to regulate the +distribution of property and the government of families, provided +they were not to be introduced into the administration of public +affairs. Whilst the torrent of democracy overwhelmed the civil +laws of the country, he hoped to find an easy shelter behind its +political institutions. This policy was at once both adroit and +selfish; but a compromise of this kind could not last; for in the +end political institutions never fail to become the image and +expression of civil society; and in this sense it may be said +that nothing is more political in a nation than its civil +legislation.] + +It may perhaps not be without utility to show how these +changes which take place in family relations, are closely +connected with the social and political revolution which is +approaching its consummation under our own observation. There +are certain great social principles, which a people either +introduces everywhere, or tolerates nowhere. In countries which +are aristocratically constituted with all the gradations of rank, +the government never makes a direct appeal to the mass of the +governed: as men are united together, it is enough to lead the +foremost, the rest will follow. This is equally applicable to +the family, as to all aristocracies which have a head. Amongst +aristocratic nations, social institutions recognize, in truth, no +one in the family but the father; children are received by +society at his hands; society governs him, he governs them. Thus +the parent has not only a natural right, but he acquires a +political right, to command them: he is the author and the +support of his family; but he is also its constituted ruler. In +democracies, where the government picks out every individual +singly from the mass, to make him subservient to the general laws +of the community, no such intermediate person is required: a +father is there, in the eye of the law, only a member of the +community, older and richer than his sons. + +When most of the conditions of life are extremely unequal, +and the inequality of these conditions is permanent, the notion +of a superior grows upon the imaginations of men: if the law +invested him with no privileges, custom and public opinion would +concede them. When, on the contrary, men differ but little from +each other, and do not always remain in dissimilar conditions of +life, the general notion of a superior becomes weaker and less +distinct: it is vain for legislation to strive to place him who +obeys very much beneath him who commands; the manners of the time +bring the two men nearer to one another, and draw them daily +towards the same level. Although the legislation of an +aristocratic people should grant no peculiar privileges to the +heads of families; I shall not be the less convinced that their +power is more respected and more extensive than in a democracy; +for I know that, whatsoever the laws may be, superiors always +appear higher and inferiors lower in aristocracies than amongst +democratic nations. + + +When men live more for the remembrance of what has been than +for the care of what is, and when they are more given to attend +to what their ancestors thought than to think themselves, the +father is the natural and necessary tie between the past and the +present - the link by which the ends of these two chains are +connected. In aristocracies, then, the father is not only the +civil head of the family, but the oracle of its traditions, the +expounder of its customs, the arbiter of its manners. He is +listened to with deference, he is addressed with respect, and the +love which is felt for him is always tempered with fear. When +the condition of society becomes democratic, and men adopt as +their general principle that it is good and lawful to judge of +all things for one's self, using former points of belief not as a +rule of faith but simply as a means of information, the power +which the opinions of a father exercise over those of his sons +diminishes as well as his legal power. + +Perhaps the subdivision of estates which democracy brings +with it contributes more than anything else to change the +relations existing between a father and his children. When the +property of the father of a family is scanty, his son and himself +constantly live in the same place, and share the same +occupations: habit and necessity bring them together, and force +them to hold constant communication: the inevitable consequence +is a sort of familiar intimacy, which renders authority less +absolute, and which can ill be reconciled with the external forms +of respect. Now in democratic countries the class of those who +are possessed of small fortunes is precisely that which gives +strength to the notions, and a particular direction to the +manners, of the community. That class makes its opinions +preponderate as universally as its will, and even those who are +most inclined to resist its commands are carried away in the end +by its example. I have known eager opponents of democracy who +allowed their children to address them with perfect colloquial +equality. + +Thus, at the same time that the power of aristocracy is +declining, the austere, the conventional, and the legal part of +parental authority vanishes, and a species of equality prevails +around the domestic hearth. I know not, upon the whole, whether +society loses by the change, but I am inclined to believe that +man individually is a gainer by it. I think that, in proportion +as manners and laws become more democratic, the relation of +father and son becomes more intimate and more affectionate; rules +and authority are less talked of; confidence and tenderness are +oftentimes increased, and it would seem that the natural bond is +drawn closer in proportion as the social bond is loosened. In a +democratic family the father exercises no other power than that +with which men love to invest the affection and the experience of +age; his orders would perhaps be disobeyed, but his advice is for +the most part authoritative. Though he be not hedged in with +ceremonial respect, his sons at least accost him with confidence; +no settled form of speech is appropriated to the mode of +addressing him, but they speak to him constantly, and are ready +to consult him day by day; the master and the constituted ruler +have vanished -the father remains. Nothing more is needed, in +order to judge of the difference between the two states of +society in this respect, than to peruse the family correspondence +of aristocratic ages. The style is always correct, ceremonious, +stiff, and so cold that the natural warmth of the heart can +hardly be felt in the language. The language, on the contrary, +addressed by a son to his father in democratic countries is +always marked by mingled freedom, familiarity and affection, +which at once show that new relations have sprung up in the bosom +of the family. + +A similar revolution takes place in the mutual relations of +children. In aristocratic families, as well as in aristocratic +society, every place is marked out beforehand. Not only does the +father occupy a separate rank, in which he enjoys extensive +privileges, but even the children are not equal amongst +themselves. The age and sex of each irrevocably determine his +rank, and secure to him certain privileges: most of these +distinctions are abolished or diminished by democracy. In +aristocratic families the eldest son, inheriting the greater part +of the property, and almost all the rights of the family, becomes +the chief, and, to a certain extent, the master, of his brothers. +Greatness and power are for him - for them, mediocrity and +dependence. Nevertheless it would be wrong to suppose that, +amongst aristocratic nations, the privileges of the eldest son +are advantageous to himself alone, or that they excite nothing +but envy and hatred in those around him. The eldest son commonly +endeavors to procure wealth and power for his brothers, because +the general splendor of the house is reflected back on him who +represents it; the younger sons seek to back the elder brother in +all his undertakings, because the greatness and power of the head +of the family better enable him to provide for all its branches. +The different members of an aristocratic family are therefore +very closely bound together; their interests are connected, their +minds agree, but their hearts are seldom in harmony. + +Democracy also binds brothers to each other, but by very +different means. Under democratic laws all the children are +perfectly equal, and consequently independent; nothing brings +them forcibly together, but nothing keeps them apart; and as they +have the same origin, as they are trained under the same roof, as +they are treated with the same care, and as no peculiar privilege +distinguishes or divides them, the affectionate and youthful +intimacy of early years easily springs up between them. Scarcely +any opportunities occur to break the tie thus formed at the +outset of life; for their brotherhood brings them daily together, +without embarrassing them. It is not, then, by interest, but by +common associations and by the free sympathy of opinion and of +taste, that democracy unites brothers to each other. It divides +their inheritance, but it allows their hearts and minds to mingle +together. Such is the charm of these democratic manners, that +even the partisans of aristocracy are caught by it; and after +having experienced it for some time, they are by no means tempted +to revert to the respectful and frigid observance of aristocratic +families. They would be glad to retain the domestic habits of +democracy, if they might throw off its social conditions and its +laws; but these elements are indissolubly united, and it is +impossible to enjoy the former without enduring the latter. +The remarks I have made on filial love and fraternal +affection are applicable to all the passions which emanate +spontaneously from human nature itself. If a certain mode of +thought or feeling is the result of some peculiar condition of +life, when that condition is altered nothing whatever remains of +the thought or feeling. Thus a law may bind two members of the +community very closely to one another; but that law being +abolished, they stand asunder. Nothing was more strict than the +tie which united the vassal to the lord under the feudal system; +at the present day the two men know not each other; the fear, the +gratitude, and the affection which formerly connected them have +vanished, and not a vestige of the tie remains. Such, however, +is not the case with those feelings which are natural to mankind. +Whenever a law attempts to tutor these feelings in any particular +manner, it seldom fails to weaken them; by attempting to add to +their intensity, it robs them of some of their elements, for they +are never stronger than when left to themselves. + +Democracy, which destroys or obscures almost all the old +conventional rules of society, and which prevents men from +readily assenting to new ones, entirely effaces most of the +feelings to which these conventional rules have given rise; but +it only modifies some others, and frequently imparts to them a +degree of energy and sweetness unknown before. Perhaps it is not +impossible to condense into a single proposition the whole +meaning of this chapter, and of several others that preceded it. +Democracy loosens social ties, but it draws the ties of nature +more tight; it brings kindred more closely together, whilst it +places the various members of the community more widely apart. + +Chapter IX: Education Of Young Women In The United States + +No free communities ever existed without morals; and, as I +observed in the former part of this work, morals are the work of +woman. Consequently, whatever affects the condition of women, +their habits and their opinions, has great political importance +in my eyes. Amongst almost all Protestant nations young women +are far more the mistresses of their own actions than they are in +Catholic countries. This independence is still greater in +Protestant countries, like England, which have retained or +acquired the right of self-government; the spirit of freedom is +then infused into the domestic circle by political habits and by +religious opinions. In the United States the doctrines of +Protestantism are combined with great political freedom and a +most democratic state of society; and nowhere are young women +surrendered so early or so completely to their own guidance. +Long before an American girl arrives at the age of marriage, her +emancipation from maternal control begins; she has scarcely +ceased to be a child when she already thinks for herself, speaks +with freedom, and acts on her own impulse. The great scene of +the world is constantly open to her view; far from seeking +concealment, it is every day disclosed to her more completely, +and she is taught to survey it with a firm and calm gaze. Thus +the vices and dangers of society are early revealed to her; as +she sees them clearly, she views them without illusions, and +braves them without fear; for she is full of reliance on her own +strength, and her reliance seems to be shared by all who are +about her. An American girl scarcely ever displays that virginal +bloom in the midst of young desires, or that innocent and +ingenuous grace which usually attends the European woman in the +transition from girlhood to youth. It is rarely that an American +woman at any age displays childish timidity or ignorance. Like +the young women of Europe, she seeks to please, but she knows +precisely the cost of pleasing. If she does not abandon herself +to evil, at least she knows that it exists; and she is remarkable +rather for purity of manners than for chastity of mind. I have +been frequently surprised, and almost frightened, at the singular +address and happy boldness with which young women in America +contrive to manage their thoughts and their language amidst all +the difficulties of stimulating conversation; a philosopher would +have stumbled at every step along the narrow path which they trod +without accidents and without effort. It is easy indeed to +perceive that, even amidst the independence of early youth, an +American woman is always mistress of herself; she indulges in all +permitted pleasures, without yielding herself up to any of them; +and her reason never allows the reins of self-guidance to drop, +though it often seems to hold them loosely. + +In France, where remnants of every age are still so +strangely mingled in the opinions and tastes of the people, women +commonly receive a reserved, retired, and almost cloistral +education, as they did in aristocratic times; and then they are +suddenly abandoned, without a guide and without assistance, in +the midst of all the irregularities inseparable from democratic +society. The Americans are more consistent. They have found out +that in a democracy the independence of individuals cannot fail +to be very great, youth premature, tastes ill-restrained, customs +fleeting, public opinion often unsettled and powerless, paternal +authority weak, and marital authority contested. Under these +circumstances, believing that they had little chance of +repressing in woman the most vehement passions of the human +heart, they held that the surer way was to teach her the art of +combating those passions for herself. As they could not prevent +her virtue from being exposed to frequent danger, they determined +that she should know how best to defend it; and more reliance was +placed on the free vigor of her will than on safeguards which +have been shaken or overthrown. Instead, then, of inculcating +mistrust of herself, they constantly seek to enhance their +confidence in her own strength of character. As it is neither +possible nor desirable to keep a young woman in perpetual or +complete ignorance, they hasten to give her a precocious +knowledge on all subjects. Far from hiding the corruptions of +the world from her, they prefer that she should see them at once +and train herself to shun them; and they hold it of more +importance to protect her conduct than to be over-scrupulous of +her innocence. + +Although the Americans are a very religious people, they do +not rely on religion alone to defend the virtue of woman; they +seek to arm her reason also. In this they have followed the same +method as in several other respects; they first make the most +vigorous efforts to bring individual independence to exercise a +proper control over itself, and they do not call in the aid of +religion until they have reached the utmost limits of human +strength. I am aware that an education of this kind is not +without danger; I am sensible that it tends to invigorate the +judgment at the expense of the imagination, and to make cold and +virtuous women instead of affectionate wives and agreeable +companions to man. Society may be more tranquil and better +regulated, but domestic life has often fewer charms. These, +however, are secondary evils, which may be braved for the sake of +higher interests. At the stage at which we are now arrived the +time for choosing is no longer within our control; a democratic +education is indispensable to protect women from the dangers with +which democratic institutions and manners surround them. + +Chapter X: The Young Woman In The Character Of A Wife + +In America the independence of woman is irrevocably lost in +the bonds of matrimony: if an unmarried woman is less constrained +there than elsewhere, a wife is subjected to stricter +obligations. The former makes her father's house an abode of +freedom and of pleasure; the latter lives in the home of her +husband as if it were a cloister. Yet these two different +conditions of life are perhaps not so contrary as may be +supposed, and it is natural that the American women should pass +through the one to arrive at the other. + +Religious peoples and trading nations entertain peculiarly +serious notions of marriage: the former consider the regularity +of woman's life as the best pledge and most certain sign of the +purity of her morals; the latter regard it as the highest +security for the order and prosperity of the household. The +Americans are at the same time a puritanical people and a +commercial nation: their religious opinions, as well as their +trading habits, consequently lead them to require much abnegation +on the part of woman, and a constant sacrifice of her pleasures +to her duties which is seldom demanded of her in Europe. Thus in +the United States the inexorable opinion of the public carefully +circumscribes woman within the narrow circle of domestic interest +and duties, and forbids her to step beyond it. + +Upon her entrance into the world a young American woman +finds these notions firmly established; she sees the rules which +are derived from them; she is not slow to perceive that she +cannot depart for an instant from the established usages of her +contemporaries, without putting in jeopardy her peace of mind, +her honor, nay even her social existence; and she finds the +energy required for such an act of submission in the firmness of +her understanding and in the virile habits which her education +has given her. It may be said that she has learned by the use of +her independence to surrender it without a struggle and without a +murmur when the time comes for making the sacrifice. But no +American woman falls into the toils of matrimony as into a snare +held out to her simplicity and ignorance. She has been taught +beforehand what is expected of her, and voluntarily and freely +does she enter upon this engagement. She supports her new +condition with courage, because she chose it. As in America +paternal discipline is very relaxed and the conjugal tie very +strict, a young woman does not contract the latter without +considerable circumspection and apprehension. Precocious +marriages are rare. Thus American women do not marry until their +understandings are exercised and ripened; whereas in other +countries most women generally only begin to exercise and to +ripen their understandings after marriage. + +I by no means suppose, however, that the great change which +takes place in all the habits of women in the United States, as +soon as they are married, ought solely to be attributed to the +constraint of public opinion: it is frequently imposed upon +themselves by the sole effort of their own will. When the time +for choosing a husband is arrived, that cold and stern reasoning +power which has been educated and invigorated by the free +observation of the world, teaches an American woman that a spirit +of levity and independence in the bonds of marriage is a constant +subject of annoyance, not of pleasure; it tells her that the +amusements of the girl cannot become the recreations of the wife, +and that the sources of a married woman's happiness are in the +home of her husband. As she clearly discerns beforehand the only +road which can lead to domestic happiness, she enters upon it at +once, and follows it to the end without seeking to turn back. + +The same strength of purpose which the young wives of +America display, in bending themselves at once and without +repining to the austere duties of their new condition, is no less +manifest in all the great trials of their lives. In no country +in the world are private fortunes more precarious than in the +United States. It is not uncommon for the same man, in the +course of his life, to rise and sink again through all the grades +which lead from opulence to poverty. American women support +these vicissitudes with calm and unquenchable energy: it would +seem that their desires contract, as easily as they expand, with +their fortunes. *a + +[Footnote a: See Appendix S.] + +The greater part of the adventurers who migrate every year +to people the western wilds, belong, as I observed in the former +part of this work, to the old Anglo-American race of the Northern +States. Many of these men, who rush so boldly onwards in pursuit +of wealth, were already in the enjoyment of a competency in their +own part of the country. They take their wives along with them, +and make them share the countless perils and privations which +always attend the commencement of these expeditions. I have +often met, even on the verge of the wilderness, with young women, +who after having been brought up amidst all the comforts of the +large towns of New England, had passed, almost without any +intermediate stage, from the wealthy abode of their parents to a +comfortless hovel in a forest. Fever, solitude, and a tedious +life had not broken the springs of their courage. Their features +were impaired and faded, but their looks were firm: they appeared +to be at once sad and resolute. I do not doubt that these young +American women had amassed, in the education of their early +years, that inward strength which they displayed under these +circumstances. The early culture of the girl may still therefore +be traced, in the United States, under the aspect of marriage: +her part is changed, her habits are different, but her character +is the same. + + +Book Three - Chapters XI-XIV + +Chapter XI: That The Equality Of Conditions Contributes To The +Maintenance Of Good Morals In America + +Some philosophers and historians have said, or have hinted, +that the strictness of female morality was increased or +diminished simply by the distance of a country from the equator. +This solution of the difficulty was an easy one; and nothing was +required but a globe and a pair of compasses to settle in an +instant one of the most difficult problems in the condition of +mankind. But I am not aware that this principle of the +materialists is supported by facts. The same nations have been +chaste or dissolute at different periods of their history; the +strictness or the laxity of their morals depended therefore on +some variable cause, not only on the natural qualities of their +country, which were invariable. I do not deny that in certain +climates the passions which are occasioned by the mutual +attraction of the sexes are peculiarly intense; but I am of +opinion that this natural intensity may always be excited or +restrained by the condition of society and by political +institutions. + +Although the travellers who have visited North America +differ on a great number of points, they all agree in remarking +that morals are far more strict there than elsewhere. It is +evident that on this point the Americans are very superior to +their progenitors the English. A superficial glance at the two +nations will establish the fact. In England, as in all other +countries of Europe, public malice is constantly attacking the +frailties of women. Philosophers and statesmen are heard to +deplore that morals are not sufficiently strict, and the literary +productions of the country constantly lead one to suppose so. In +America all books, novels not excepted, suppose women to be +chaste, and no one thinks of relating affairs of gallantry. No +doubt this great regularity of American morals originates partly +in the country, in the race of the people, and in their religion: +but all these causes, which operate elsewhere, do not suffice to +account for it; recourse must be had to some special reason. +This reason appears to me to be the principle of equality and the +institutions derived from it. Equality of conditions does not of +itself engender regularity of morals, but it unquestionably +facilitates and increases it. *a +[Footnote a: See Appendix T.] + +Amongst aristocratic nations birth and fortune frequently +make two such different beings of man and woman, that they can +never be united to each other. Their passions draw them +together, but the condition of society, and the notions suggested +by it, prevent them from contracting a permanent and ostensible +tie. The necessary consequence is a great number of transient +and clandestine connections. Nature secretly avenges herself for +the constraint imposed upon her by the laws of man. This is not +so much the case when the equality of conditions has swept away +all the imaginary, or the real, barriers which separated man from +woman. No girl then believes that she cannot become the wife of +the man who loves her; and this renders all breaches of morality +before marriage very uncommon: for, whatever be the credulity of +the passions, a woman will hardly be able to persuade herself +that she is beloved, when her lover is perfectly free to marry +her and does not. + +The same cause operates, though more indirectly, on married +life. Nothing better serves to justify an illicit passion, either +to the minds of those who have conceived it or to the world which +looks on, than compulsory or accidental marriages. *b In a +country in which a woman is always free to exercise her power of +choosing, and in which education has prepared her to choose +rightly, public opinion is inexorable to her faults. The rigor +of the Americans arises in part from this cause. They consider +marriages as a covenant which is often onerous, but every +condition of which the parties are strictly bound to fulfil, +because they knew all those conditions beforehand, and were +perfectly free not to have contracted them. + +[Footnote b: The literature of Europe sufficiently corroborates +this remark. When a European author wishes to depict in a work of +imagination any of these great catastrophes in matrimony which so +frequently occur amongst us, he takes care to bespeak the +compassion of the reader by bringing before him ill-assorted or +compulsory marriages. Although habitual tolerance has long since +relaxed our morals, an author could hardly succeed in interesting +us in the misfortunes of his characters, if he did not first +palliate their faults. This artifice seldom fails: the daily +scenes we witness prepare us long beforehand to be indulgent. +But American writers could never render these palliations +probable to their readers; their customs and laws are opposed to +it; and as they despair of rendering levity of conduct pleasing, +they cease to depict it. This is one of the causes to which must +be attributed the small number of novels published in the United +States.] + +The very circumstances which render matrimonial fidelity +more obligatory also render it more easy. In aristocratic +countries the object of marriage is rather to unite property than +persons; hence the husband is sometimes at school and the wife at +nurse when they are betrothed. It cannot be wondered at if the +conjugal tie which holds the fortunes of the pair united allows +their hearts to rove; this is the natural result of the nature of +the contract. When, on the contrary, a man always chooses a wife +for himself, without any external coercion or even guidance, it +is generally a conformity of tastes and opinions which brings a +man and a woman together, and this same conformity keeps and +fixes them in close habits of intimacy. + +Our forefathers had conceived a very strange notion on the +subject of marriage: as they had remarked that the small number +of love-matches which occurred in their time almost always turned +out ill, they resolutely inferred that it was exceedingly +dangerous to listen to the dictates of the heart on the subject. +Accident appeared to them to be a better guide than choice. Yet +it was not very difficult to perceive that the examples which +they witnessed did in fact prove nothing at all. For in the +first place, if democratic nations leave a woman at liberty to +choose her husband, they take care to give her mind sufficient +knowledge, and her will sufficient strength, to make so important +a choice: whereas the young women who, amongst aristocratic +nations, furtively elope from the authority of their parents to +throw themselves of their own accord into the arms of men whom +they have had neither time to know, nor ability to judge of, are +totally without those securities. It is not surprising that they +make a bad use of their freedom of action the first time they +avail themselves of it; nor that they fall into such cruel +mistakes, when, not having received a democratic education, they +choose to marry in conformity to democratic customs. But this is +not all. When a man and woman are bent upon marriage in spite of +the differences of an aristocratic state of society, the +difficulties to be overcome are enormous. Having broken or +relaxed the bonds of filial obedience, they have then to +emancipate themselves by a final effort from the sway of custom +and the tyranny of opinion; and when at length they have +succeeded in this arduous task, they stand estranged from their +natural friends and kinsmen: the prejudice they have crossed +separates them from all, and places them in a situation which +soon breaks their courage and sours their hearts. If, then, a +couple married in this manner are first unhappy and afterwards +criminal, it ought not to be attributed to the freedom of their +choice, but rather to their living in a community in which this +freedom of choice is not admitted. + +Moreover it should not be forgotten that the same effort +which makes a man violently shake off a prevailing error, +commonly impels him beyond the bounds of reason; that, to dare to +declare war, in however just a cause, against the opinion of +one's age and country, a violent and adventurous spirit is +required, and that men of this character seldom arrive at +happiness or virtue, whatever be the path they follow. And this, +it may be observed by the way, is the reason why in the most +necessary and righteous revolutions, it is so rare to meet with +virtuous or moderate revolutionary characters. There is then no +just ground for surprise if a man, who in an age of aristocracy +chooses to consult nothing but his own opinion and his own taste +in the choice of a wife, soon finds that infractions of morality +and domestic wretchedness invade his household: but when this +same line of action is in the natural and ordinary course of +things, when it is sanctioned by parental authority and backed by +public opinion, it cannot be doubted that the internal peace of +families will be increased by it, and conjugal fidelity more +rigidly observed. + +Almost all men in democracies are engaged in public or +professional life; and on the other hand the limited extent of +common incomes obliges a wife to confine herself to the house, in +order to watch in person and very closely over the details of +domestic economy. All these distinct and compulsory occupations +are so many natural barriers, which, by keeping the two sexes +asunder, render the solicitations of the one less frequent and +less ardent -the resistance of the other more easy. + +Not indeed that the equality of conditions can ever succeed +in making men chaste, but it may impart a less dangerous +character to their breaches of morality. As no one has then +either sufficient time or opportunity to assail a virtue armed in +self-defence, there will be at the same time a great number of +courtesans and a great number of virtuous women. This state of +things causes lamentable cases of individual hardship, but it +does not prevent the body of society from being strong and alert: +it does not destroy family ties, or enervate the morals of the +nation. Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a +few, but by laxity of morals amongst all. In the eyes of a +legislator, prostitution is less to be dreaded than intrigue. + +The tumultuous and constantly harassed life which equality +makes men lead, not only distracts them from the passion of love, +by denying them time to indulge in it, but it diverts them from +it by another more secret but more certain road. All men who +live in democratic ages more or less contract the ways of +thinking of the manufacturing and trading classes; their minds +take a serious, deliberate, and positive turn; they are apt to +relinquish the ideal, in order to pursue some visible and +proximate object, which appears to be the natural and necessary +aim of their desires. Thus the principle of equality does not +destroy the imagination, but lowers its flight to the level of +the earth. No men are less addicted to reverie than the citizens +of a democracy; and few of them are ever known to give way to +those idle and solitary meditations which commonly precede and +produce the great emotions of the heart. It is true they attach +great importance to procuring for themselves that sort of deep, +regular, and quiet affection which constitutes the charm and +safeguard of life, but they are not apt to run after those +violent and capricious sources of excitement which disturb and +abridge it. + +I am aware that all this is only applicable in its full +extent to America, and cannot at present be extended to Europe. +In the course of the last half-century, whilst laws and customs +have impelled several European nations with unexampled force +towards democracy, we have not had occasion to observe that the +relations of man and woman have become more orderly or more +chaste. In some places the very reverse may be detected: some +classes are more strict - the general morality of the people +appears to be more lax. I do not hesitate to make the remark, +for I am as little disposed to flatter my contemporaries as to +malign them. This fact must distress, but it ought not to +surprise us. The propitious influence which a democratic state +of society may exercise upon orderly habits, is one of those +tendencies which can only be discovered after a time. If the +equality of conditions is favorable to purity of morals, the +social commotion by which conditions are rendered equal is +adverse to it. In the last fifty years, during which France has +been undergoing this transformation, that country has rarely had +freedom, always disturbance. Amidst this universal confusion of +notions and this general stir of opinions - amidst this +incoherent mixture of the just and unjust, of truth and +falsehood, of right and might - public virtue has become +doubtful, and private morality wavering. But all +revolutions, whatever may have been their object or their agents, +have at first produced similar consequences; even those which +have in the end drawn the bonds of morality more tightly began by +loosening them. The violations of morality which the French +frequently witness do not appear to me to have a permanent +character; and this is already betokened by some curious signs of +the times. + +Nothing is more wretchedly corrupt than an aristocracy which +retains its wealth when it has lost its power, and which still +enjoys a vast deal of leisure after it is reduced to mere vulgar +pastimes. The energetic passions and great conceptions which +animated it heretofore, leave it then; and nothing remains to it +but a host of petty consuming vices, which cling about it like +worms upon a carcass. No one denies that the French aristocracy +of the last century was extremely dissolute; whereas established +habits and ancient belief still preserved some respect for +morality amongst the other classes of society. Nor will it be +contested that at the present day the remnants of that same +aristocracy exhibit a certain severity of morals; whilst laxity +of morals appears to have spread amongst the middle and lower +ranks. So that the same families which were most profligate +fifty years ago are nowadays the most exemplary, and democracy +seems only to have strengthened the morality of the aristocratic +classes. The French Revolution, by dividing the fortunes of the +nobility, by forcing them to attend assiduously to their affairs +and to their families, by making them live under the same roof +with their children, and in short by giving a more rational and +serious turn to their minds, has imparted to them, almost without +their being aware of it, a reverence for religious belief, a love +of order, of tranquil pleasures, of domestic endearments, and of +comfort; whereas the rest of the nation, which had naturally +these same tastes, was carried away into excesses by the effort +which was required to overthrow the laws and political habits of +the country. The old French aristocracy has undergone the +consequences of the Revolution, but it neither felt the +revolutionary passions nor shared in the anarchical excitement +which produced that crisis; it may easily be conceived that this +aristocracy feels the salutary influence of the Revolution in its +manners, before those who achieve it. It may therefore be said, +though at first it seems paradoxical, that, at the present day, +the most anti-democratic classes of the nation principally +exhibit the kind of morality which may reasonably be anticipated +from democracy. I cannot but think that when we shall have +obtained all the effects of this democratic Revolution, after +having got rid of the tumult it has caused, the observations +which are now only applicable to the few will gradually become +true of the whole community. + +Chapter XII: How The Americans Understand The Equality Of The +Sexes + +I Have shown how democracy destroys or modifies the +different inequalities which originate in society; but is this +all? or does it not ultimately affect that great inequality of +man and woman which has seemed, up to the present day, to be +eternally based in human nature? I believe that the social +changes which bring nearer to the same level the father and son, +the master and servant, and superiors and inferiors generally +speaking, will raise woman and make her more and more the equal +of man. But here, more than ever, I feel the necessity of making +myself clearly understood; for there is no subject on which the +coarse and lawless fancies of our age have taken a freer range. + +There are people in Europe who, confounding together the +different characteristics of the sexes, would make of man and +woman beings not only equal but alike. They would give to both +the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant to +both the same rights; they would mix them in all things - their +occupations, their pleasures, their business. It may readily be +conceived, that by thus attempting to make one sex equal to the +other, both are degraded; and from so preposterous a medley of +the works of nature nothing could ever result but weak men and +disorderly women. It is not thus that the Americans understand +that species of democratic equality which may be established +between the sexes. They admit, that as nature has appointed such +wide differences between the physical and moral constitution of +man and woman, her manifest design was to give a distinct +employment to their various faculties; and they hold that +improvement does not consist in making beings so dissimilar do +pretty nearly the same things, but in getting each of them to +fulfil their respective tasks in the best possible manner. The +Americans have applied to the sexes the great principle of +political economy which governs the manufactures of our age, by +carefully dividing the duties of man from those of woman, in +order that the great work of society may be the better carried +on. + +In no country has such constant care been taken as in +America to trace two clearly distinct lines of action for the two +sexes, and to make them keep pace one with the other, but in two +pathways which are always different. American women never manage +the outward concerns of the family, or conduct a business, or +take a part in political life; nor are they, on the other hand, +ever compelled to perform the rough labor of the fields, or to +make any of those laborious exertions which demand the exertion +of physical strength. No families are so poor as to form an +exception to this rule. If on the one hand an American woman +cannot escape from the quiet circle of domestic employments, on +the other hand she is never forced to go beyond it. Hence it is +that the women of America, who often exhibit a masculine strength +of understanding and a manly energy, generally preserve great +delicacy of personal appearance and always retain the manners of +women, although they sometimes show that they have the hearts and +minds of men. + +Nor have the Americans ever supposed that one consequence of +democratic principles is the subversion of marital power, of the +confusion of the natural authorities in families. They hold that +every association must have a head in order to accomplish its +object, and that the natural head of the conjugal association is +man. They do not therefore deny him the right of directing his +partner; and they maintain, that in the smaller association of +husband and wife, as well as in the great social community, the +object of democracy is to regulate and legalize the powers which +are necessary, not to subvert all power. This opinion is not +peculiar to one sex, and contested by the other: I never observed +that the women of America consider conjugal authority as a +fortunate usurpation of their rights, nor that they thought +themselves degraded by submitting to it. It appeared to me, on +the contrary, that they attach a sort of pride to the voluntary +surrender of their own will, and make it their boast to bend +themselves to the yoke, not to shake it off. Such at least is +the feeling expressed by the most virtuous of their sex; the +others are silent; and in the United States it is not the +practice for a guilty wife to clamor for the rights of women, +whilst she is trampling on her holiest duties. + +It has often been remarked that in Europe a certain degree +of contempt lurks even in the flattery which men lavish upon +women: although a European frequently affects to be the slave of +woman, it may be seen that he never sincerely thinks her his +equal. In the United States men seldom compliment women, but +they daily show how much they esteem them. They constantly +display an entire confidence in the understanding of a wife, and +a profound respect for her freedom; they have decided that her +mind is just as fitted as that of a man to discover the plain +truth, and her heart as firm to embrace it; and they have never +sought to place her virtue, any more than his, under the shelter +of prejudice, ignorance, and fear. It would seem that in Europe, +where man so easily submits to the despotic sway of women, they +are nevertheless curtailed of some of the greatest qualities of +the human species, and considered as seductive but imperfect +beings; and (what may well provoke astonishment) women ultimately +look upon themselves in the same light, and almost consider it as +a privilege that they are entitled to show themselves futile, +feeble, and timid. The women of America claim no such +privileges. + +Again, it may be said that in our morals we have reserved +strange immunities to man; so that there is, as it were, one +virtue for his use, and another for the guidance of his partner; +and that, according to the opinion of the public, the very same +act may be punished alternately as a crime or only as a fault. +The Americans know not this iniquitous division of duties and +rights; amongst them the seducer is as much dishonored as his +victim. It is true that the Americans rarely lavish upon women +those eager attentions which are commonly paid them in Europe; +but their conduct to women always implies that they suppose them +to be virtuous and refined; and such is the respect entertained +for the moral freedom of the sex, that in the presence of a woman +the most guarded language is used, lest her ear should be +offended by an expression. In America a young unmarried woman +may, alone and without fear, undertake a long journey. + +The legislators of the United States, who have mitigated +almost all the penalties of criminal law, still make rape a +capital offence, and no crime is visited with more inexorable +severity by public opinion. This may be accounted for; as the +Americans can conceive nothing more precious than a woman's +honor, and nothing which ought so much to be respected as her +independence, they hold that no punishment is too severe for the +man who deprives her of them against her will. In France, where +the same offence is visited with far milder penalties, it is +frequently difficult to get a verdict from a jury against the +prisoner. Is this a consequence of contempt of decency or +contempt of women? I cannot but believe that it is a contempt of +one and of the other. + +Thus the Americans do not think that man and woman have +either the duty or the right to perform the same offices, but +they show an equal regard for both their respective parts; and +though their lot is different, they consider both of them as +beings of equal value. They do not give to the courage of woman +the same form or the same direction as to that of man; but they +never doubt her courage: and if they hold that man and his +partner ought not always to exercise their intellect and +understanding in the same manner, they at least believe the +understanding of the one to be as sound as that of the other, and +her intellect to be as clear. Thus, then, whilst they have +allowed the social inferiority of woman to subsist, they have +done all they could to raise her morally and intellectually to +the level of man; and in this respect they appear to me to have +excellently understood the true principle of democratic +improvement. As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow that, +although the women of the United States are confined within the +narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some +respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman +occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked, now that I am +drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so +many important things done by the Americans, to what the singular +prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be +attributed, I should reply - to the superiority of their women. +Chapter XIII: That The Principle Of Equality Naturally Divides +The Americans Into A Number Of Small Private Circles + +It may probably be supposed that the final consequence and +necessary effect of democratic institutions is to confound +together all the members of the community in private as well as +in public life, and to compel them all to live in common; but +this would be to ascribe a very coarse and oppressive form to the +equality which originates in democracy. No state of society or +laws can render men so much alike, but that education, fortune, +and tastes will interpose some differences between them; and, +though different men may sometimes find it their interest to +combine for the same purposes, they will never make it their +pleasure. They will therefore always tend to evade the +provisions of legislation, whatever they may be; and departing in +some one respect from the circle within which they were to be +bounded, they will set up, close by the great political +community, small private circles, united together by the +similitude of their conditions, habits, and manners. + +In the United States the citizens have no sort of +pre-eminence over each other; they owe each other no mutual +obedience or respect; they all meet for the administration of +justice, for the government of the State, and in general to treat +of the affairs which concern their common welfare; but I never +heard that attempts have been made to bring them all to follow +the same diversions, or to amuse themselves promiscuously in the +same places of recreation. The Americans, who mingle so readily +in their political assemblies and courts of justice, are wont on +the contrary carefully to separate into small distinct circles, +in order to indulge by themselves in the enjoyments of private +life. Each of them is willing to acknowledge all his +fellow-citizens as his equals, but he will only receive a very +limited number of them amongst his friends or his guests. This +appears to me to be very natural. In proportion as the circle of +public society is extended, it may be anticipated that the sphere +of private intercourse will be contracted; far from supposing +that the members of modern society will ultimately live in +common, I am afraid that they may end by forming nothing but +small coteries. + +Amongst aristocratic nations the different classes are like +vast chambers, out of which it is impossible to get, into which +it is impossible to enter. These classes have no communication +with each other, but within their pale men necessarily live in +daily contact; even though they would not naturally suit, the +general conformity of a similar condition brings them nearer +together. But when neither law nor custom professes to establish +frequent and habitual relations between certain men, their +intercourse originates in the accidental analogy of opinions and +tastes; hence private society is infinitely varied. In +democracies, where the members of the community never differ much +from each other, and naturally stand in such propinquity that +they may all at any time be confounded in one general mass, +numerous artificial and arbitrary distinctions spring up, by +means of which every man hopes to keep himself aloof, lest he +should be carried away in the crowd against his will. This can +never fail to be the case; for human institutions may be changed, +but not man: whatever may be the general endeavor of a community +to render its members equal and alike, the personal pride of +individuals will always seek to rise above the line, and to form +somewhere an inequality to their own advantage. + +In aristocracies men are separated from each other by lofty +stationary barriers; in democracies they are divided by a number +of small and almost invisible threads, which are constantly +broken or moved from place to place. Thus, whatever may be the +progress of equality, in democratic nations a great number of +small private communities will always be formed within the +general pale of political society; but none of them will bear any +resemblance in its manners to the highest class in aristocracies. + +Chapter XIV: Some Reflections On American Manners + +Nothing seems at first sight less important than the outward +form of human actions, yet there is nothing upon which men set +more store: they grow used to everything except to living in a +society which has not their own manners. The influence of the +social and political state of a country upon manners is therefore +deserving of serious examination. Manners are, generally, the +product of the very basis of the character of a people, but they +are also sometimes the result of an arbitrary convention between +certain men; thus they are at once natural and acquired. When +certain men perceive that they are the foremost persons in +society, without contestation and without effort - when they are +constantly engaged on large objects, leaving the more minute +details to others - and when they live in the enjoyment of wealth +which they did not amass and which they do not fear to lose, it +may be supposed that they feel a kind of haughty disdain of the +petty interests and practical cares of life, and that their +thoughts assume a natural greatness, which their language and +their manners denote. In democratic countries manners are +generally devoid of dignity, because private life is there +extremely petty in its character; and they are frequently low, +because the mind has few opportunities of rising above the +engrossing cares of domestic interests. True dignity in manners +consists in always taking one's proper station, neither too high +nor too low; and this is as much within the reach of a peasant as +of a prince. In democracies all stations appear doubtful; hence +it is that the manners of democracies, though often full of +arrogance, are commonly wanting in dignity, and, moreover, they +are never either well disciplined or accomplished. + +The men who live in democracies are too fluctuating for a +certain number of them ever to succeed in laying down a code of +good breeding, and in forcing people to follow it. Every man +therefore behaves after his own fashion, and there is always a +certain incoherence in the manners of such times, because they +are moulded upon the feelings and notions of each individual, +rather than upon an ideal model proposed for general imitation. +This, however, is much more perceptible at the time when an +aristocracy has just been overthrown than after it has long been +destroyed. New political institutions and new social elements +then bring to the same places of resort, and frequently compel to +live in common, men whose education and habits are still +amazingly dissimilar, and this renders the motley composition of +society peculiarly visible. The existence of a former strict +code of good breeding is still remembered, but what it contained +or where it is to be found is already forgotten. Men have lost +the common law of manners, and they have not yet made up their +minds to do without it; but everyone endeavors to make to himself +some sort of arbitrary and variable rule, from the remnant of +former usages; so that manners have neither the regularity and +the dignity which they often display amongst aristocratic +nations, nor the simplicity and freedom which they sometimes +assume in democracies; they are at once constrained and without +constraint. + +This, however, is not the normal state of things. When the +equality of conditions is long established and complete, as all +men entertain nearly the same notions and do nearly the same +things, they do not require to agree or to copy from one another +in order to speak or act in the same manner: their manners are +constantly characterized by a number of lesser diversities, but +not by any great differences. They are never perfectly alike, +because they do not copy from the same pattern; they are never +very unlike, because their social condition is the same. At +first sight a traveller would observe that the manners of all the +Americans are exactly similar; it is only upon close examination +that the peculiarities in which they differ may be detected. + +The English make game of the manners of the Americans; but +it is singular that most of the writers who have drawn these +ludicrous delineations belonged themselves to the middle classes +in England, to whom the same delineations are exceedingly +applicable: so that these pitiless censors for the most part +furnish an example of the very thing they blame in the United +States; they do not perceive that they are deriding themselves, +to the great amusement of the aristocracy of their own country. + +Nothing is more prejudicial to democracy than its outward +forms of behavior: many men would willingly endure its vices, who +cannot support its manners. I cannot, however, admit that there +is nothing commendable in the manners of a democratic people. +Amongst aristocratic nations, all who live within reach of the +first class in society commonly strain to be like it, which gives +rise to ridiculous and insipid imitations. As a democratic +people does not possess any models of high breeding, at least it +escapes the daily necessity of seeing wretched copies of them. +In democracies manners are never so refined as amongst +aristocratic nations, but on the other hand they are never so +coarse. Neither the coarse oaths of the populace, nor the +elegant and choice expressions of the nobility are to be heard +there: the manners of such a people are often vulgar, but they +are neither brutal nor mean. I have already observed that in +democracies no such thing as a regular code of good breeding can +be laid down; this has some inconveniences and some advantages. +In aristocracies the rules of propriety impose the same demeanor +on everyone; they make all the members of the same class appear +alike, in spite of their private inclinations; they adorn and +they conceal the natural man. Amongst a democratic people +manners are neither so tutored nor so uniform, but they are +frequently more sincere. They form, as it were, a light and +loosely woven veil, through which the real feelings and private +opinions of each individual are easily discernible. The form and +the substance of human actions often, therefore, stand in closer +relation; and if the great picture of human life be less +embellished, it is more true. Thus it may be said, in one sense, +that the effect of democracy is not exactly to give men any +particular manners, but to prevent them from having manners at +all. + +The feelings, the passions, the virtues, and the vices of an +aristocracy may sometimes reappear in a democracy, but not its +manners; they are lost, and vanish forever, as soon as the +democratic revolution is completed. It would seem that nothing +is more lasting than the manners of an aristocratic class, for +they are preserved by that class for some time after it has lost +its wealth and its power - nor so fleeting, for no sooner have +they disappeared than not a trace of them is to be found; and it +is scarcely possible to say what they have been as soon as they +have ceased to be. A change in the state of society works this +miracle, and a few generations suffice to consummate it. The +principal characteristics of aristocracy are handed down by +history after an aristocracy is destroyed, but the light and +exquisite touches of manners are effaced from men's memories +almost immediately after its fall. Men can no longer conceive +what these manners were when they have ceased to witness them; +they are gone, and their departure was unseen, unfelt; for in +order to feel that refined enjoyment which is derived from choice +and distinguished manners, habit and education must have prepared +the heart, and the taste for them is lost almost as easily as the +practice of them. Thus not only a democratic people cannot have +aristocratic manners, but they neither comprehend nor desire +them; and as they never have thought of them, it is to their +minds as if such things had never been. Too much importance +should not be attached to this loss, but it may well be +regretted. + +I am aware that it has not unfrequently happened that the +same men have had very high-bred manners and very low-born +feelings: the interior of courts has sufficiently shown what +imposing externals may conceal the meanest hearts. But though the +manners of aristocracy did not constitute virtue, they sometimes +embellish virtue itself. It was no ordinary sight to see a +numerous and powerful class of men, whose every outward action +seemed constantly to be dictated by a natural elevation of +thought and feeling, by delicacy and regularity of taste, and by +urbanity of manners. Those manners threw a pleasing illusory +charm over human nature; and though the picture was often a false +one, it could not be viewed without a noble satisfaction. + + +Book Three - Chapters XV-XVII + +Chapter XV: Of The Gravity Of The Americans, And Why It Does Not +Prevent Them From Often Committing Inconsiderate Actions + +Men who live in democratic countries do not value the +simple, turbulent, or coarse diversions in which the people +indulge in aristocratic communities: such diversions are thought +by them to be puerile or insipid. Nor have they a greater +inclination for the intellectual and refined amusements of the +aristocratic classes. They want something productive and +substantial in their pleasures; they want to mix actual fruition +with their joy. In aristocratic communities the people readily +give themselves up to bursts of tumultuous and boisterous gayety, +which shake off at once the recollection of their privations: the +natives of democracies are not fond of being thus violently +broken in upon, and they never lose sight of their own selves +without regret. They prefer to these frivolous delights those +more serious and silent amusements which are like business, and +which do not drive business wholly from their minds. An +American, instead of going in a leisure hour to dance merrily at +some place of public resort, as the fellows of his calling +continue to do throughout the greater part of Europe, shuts +himself up at home to drink. He thus enjoys two pleasures; he +can go on thinking of his business, and he can get drunk decently +by his own fireside. + +I thought that the English constituted the most serious +nation on the face of the earth, but I have since seen the +Americans and have changed my opinion. I do not mean to say that +temperament has not a great deal to do with the character of the +inhabitants of the United States, but I think that their +political institutions are a still more influential cause. I +believe the seriousness of the Americans arises partly from their +pride. In democratic countries even poor men entertain a lofty +notion of their personal importance: they look upon themselves +with complacency, and are apt to suppose that others are looking +at them, too. With this disposition they watch their language +and their actions with care, and do not lay themselves open so as +to betray their deficiencies; to preserve their dignity they +think it necessary to retain their gravity. + +But I detect another more deep-seated and powerful cause +which instinctively produces amongst the Americans this +astonishing gravity. Under a despotism communities give way at +times to bursts of vehement joy; but they are generally gloomy +and moody, because they are afraid. Under absolute monarchies +tempered by the customs and manners of the country, their spirits +are often cheerful and even, because as they have some freedom +and a good deal of security, they are exempted from the most +important cares of life; but all free peoples are serious, +because their minds are habitually absorbed by the contemplation +of some dangerous or difficult purpose. This is more especially +the case amongst those free nations which form democratic +communities. Then there are in all classes a very large number +of men constantly occupied with the serious affairs of the +government; and those whose thoughts are not engaged in the +direction of the commonwealth are wholly engrossed by the +acquisition of a private fortune. Amongst such a people a +serious demeanor ceases to be peculiar to certain men, and +becomes a habit of the nation. + +We are told of small democracies in the days of antiquity, +in which the citizens met upon the public places with garlands of +roses, and spent almost all their time in dancing and theatrical +amusements. I do not believe in such republics any more than in +that of Plato; or, if the things we read of really happened, I do +not hesitate to affirm that these supposed democracies were +composed of very different elements from ours, and that they had +nothing in common with the latter except their name. But it must +not be supposed that, in the midst of all their toils, the people +who live in democracies think themselves to be pitied; the +contrary is remarked to be the case. No men are fonder of their +own condition. Life would have no relish for them if they were +delivered from the anxieties which harass them, and they show +more attachment to their cares than aristocratic nations to their +pleasures. + +I am next led to inquire how it is that these same +democratic nations, which are so serious, sometimes act in so +inconsiderate a manner. The Americans, who almost always +preserve a staid demeanor and a frigid air, nevertheless +frequently allow themselves to be borne away, far beyond the +bound of reason, by a sudden passion or a hasty opinion, and they +sometimes gravely commit strange absurdities. This contrast +ought not to surprise us. There is one sort of ignorance which +originates in extreme publicity. In despotic States men know not +how to act, because they are told nothing; in democratic nations +they often act at random, because nothing is to be left untold. +The former do not know - the latter forget; and the chief +features of each picture are lost to them in a bewilderment of +details. + +It is astonishing what imprudent language a public man may +sometimes use in free countries, and especially in democratic +States, without being compromised; whereas in absolute monarchies +a few words dropped by accident are enough to unmask him forever, +and ruin him without hope of redemption. This is explained by +what goes before. When a man speaks in the midst of a great +crowd, many of his words are not heard, or are forthwith +obliterated from the memories of those who hear them; but amidst +the silence of a mute and motionless throng the slightest whisper +strikes the ear. + +In democracies men are never stationary; a thousand chances +waft them to and fro, and their life is always the sport of +unforeseen or (so to speak) extemporaneous circumstances. Thus +they are often obliged to do things which they have imperfectly +learned, to say things they imperfectly understand, and to devote +themselves to work for which they are unprepared by long +apprenticeship. In aristocracies every man has one sole object +which he unceasingly pursues, but amongst democratic nations the +existence of man is more complex; the same mind will almost +always embrace several objects at the same time, and these +objects are frequently wholly foreign to each other: as it cannot +know them all well, the mind is readily satisfied with imperfect +notions of each. + +When the inhabitant of democracies is not urged by his +wants, he is so at least by his desires; for of all the +possessions which he sees around him, none are wholly beyond his +reach. He therefore does everything in a hurry, he is always +satisfied with "pretty well," and never pauses more than an +instant to consider what he has been doing. His curiosity is at +once insatiable and cheaply satisfied; for he cares more to know +a great deal quickly than to know anything well: he has no time +and but little taste to search things to the bottom. Thus then +democratic peoples are grave, because their social and political +condition constantly leads them to engage in serious occupations; +and they act inconsiderately, because they give but little time +and attention to each of these occupations. The habit of +inattention must be considered as the greatest bane of the +democratic character. + +Chapter XVI: Why The National Vanity Of The Americans Is More +Restless And Captious Than That Of The English + +All free nations are vainglorious, but national pride is not +displayed by all in the same manner. The Americans in their +intercourse with strangers appear impatient of the smallest +censure and insatiable of praise. The most slender eulogium is +acceptable to them; the most exalted seldom contents them; they +unceasingly harass you to extort praise, and if you resist their +entreaties they fall to praising themselves. It would seem as +if, doubting their own merit, they wished to have it constantly +exhibited before their eyes. Their vanity is not only greedy, +but restless and jealous; it will grant nothing, whilst it +demands everything, but is ready to beg and to quarrel at the +same time. If I say to an American that the country he lives in +is a fine one, "Ay," he replies, "there is not its fellow in the +world." If I applaud the freedom which its inhabitants enjoy, he +answers, "Freedom is a fine thing, but few nations are worthy to +enjoy it." If I remark the purity of morals which distinguishes +the United States, "I can imagine," says he, "that a stranger, +who has been struck by the corruption of all other nations, is +astonished at the difference." At length I leave him to the +contemplation of himself; but he returns to the charge, and does +not desist till he has got me to repeat all I had just been +saying. It is impossible to conceive a more troublesome or more +garrulous patriotism; it wearies even those who are disposed to +respect it. *a + +[Footnote a: See Appendix U.] + +Such is not the case with the English. An Englishman calmly +enjoys the real or imaginary advantages which in his opinion his +country possesses. If he grants nothing to other nations, +neither does he solicit anything for his own. The censure of +foreigners does not affect him, and their praise hardly flatters +him; his position with regard to the rest of the world is one of +disdainful and ignorant reserve: his pride requires no +sustenance, it nourishes itself. It is remarkable that two +nations, so recently sprung from the same stock, should be so +opposite to one another in their manner of feeling and +conversing. + +In aristocratic countries the great possess immense +privileges, upon which their pride rests, without seeking to rely +upon the lesser advantages which accrue to them. As these +privileges came to them by inheritance, they regard them in some +sort as a portion of themselves, or at least as a natural right +inherent in their own persons. They therefore entertain a calm +sense of their superiority; they do not dream of vaunting +privileges which everyone perceives and no one contests, and +these things are not sufficiently new to them to be made topics +of conversation. They stand unmoved in their solitary greatness, +well assured that they are seen of all the world without any +effort to show themselves off, and that no one will attempt to +drive them from that position. When an aristocracy carries on +the public affairs, its national pride naturally assumes this +reserved, indifferent, and haughty form, which is imitated by all +the other classes of the nation. + +When, on the contrary, social conditions differ but little, +the slightest privileges are of some importance; as every man +sees around himself a million of people enjoying precisely +similar or analogous advantages, his pride becomes craving and +jealous, he clings to mere trifles, and doggedly defends them. +In democracies, as the conditions of life are very fluctuating, +men have almost always recently acquired the advantages which +they possess; the consequence is that they feel extreme pleasure +in exhibiting them, to show others and convince themselves that +they really enjoy them. As at any instant these same advantages +may be lost, their possessors are constantly on the alert, and +make a point of showing that they still retain them. Men living +in democracies love their country just as they love themselves, +and they transfer the habits of their private vanity to their +vanity as a nation. The restless and insatiable vanity of a +democratic people originates so entirely in the equality and +precariousness of social conditions, that the members of the +haughtiest nobility display the very same passion in those lesser +portions of their existence in which there is anything +fluctuating or contested. An aristocratic class always differs +greatly from the other classes of the nation, by the extent and +perpetuity of its privileges; but it often happens that the only +differences between the members who belong to it consist in small +transient advantages, which may any day be lost or acquired. +The members of a powerful aristocracy, collected in a +capital or a court, have been known to contest with virulence +those frivolous privileges which depend on the caprice of fashion +or the will of their master. These persons then displayed +towards each other precisely the same puerile jealousies which +animate the men of democracies, the same eagerness to snatch the +smallest advantages which their equals contested, and the same +desire to parade ostentatiously those of which they were in +possession. If national pride ever entered into the minds of +courtiers, I do not question that they would display it in the +same manner as the members of a democratic community. + +Chapter XVII: That The Aspect Of Society In The United States Is +At Once Excited And Monotonous + +It would seem that nothing can be more adapted to stimulate +and to feed curiosity than the aspect of the United States. +Fortunes, opinions, and laws are there in ceaseless variation: it +is as if immutable nature herself were mutable, such are the +changes worked upon her by the hand of man. Yet in the end the +sight of this excited community becomes monotonous, and after +having watched the moving pageant for a time the spectator is +tired of it. Amongst aristocratic nations every man is pretty +nearly stationary in his own sphere; but men are astonishingly +unlike each other - their passions, their notions, their habits, +and their tastes are essentially different: nothing changey, but +everything differs. In democracies, on the contrary, all men are +alike and do things pretty nearly alike. It is true that they +are subject to great and frequent vicissitudes; but as the same +events of good or adverse fortune are continually recurring, the +name of the actors only is changed, the piece is always the same. +The aspect of American society is animated, because men and +things are always changing; but it is monotonous, because all +these changes are alike. + +Men living in democratic ages have many passions, but most +of their passions either end in the love of riches or proceed +from it. The cause of this is, not that their souls are +narrower, but that the importance of money is really greater at +such times. When all the members of a community are independent +of or indifferent to each other, the co-operation of each of them +can only be obtained by paying for it: this infinitely multiplies +the purposes to which wealth may be applied, and increases its +value. When the reverence which belonged to what is old has +vanished, birth, condition, and profession no longer distinguish +men, or scarcely distinguish them at all: hardly anything but +money remains to create strongly marked differences between them, +and to raise some of them above the common level. The +distinction originating in wealth is increased by the +disappearance and diminution of all other distinctions. Amongst +aristocratic nations money only reaches to a few points on the +vast circle of man's desires - in democracies it seems to lead to +all. The love of wealth is therefore to be traced, either as a +principal or an accessory motive, at the bottom of all that the +Americans do: this gives to all their passions a sort of family +likeness, and soon renders the survey of them exceedingly +wearisome. This perpetual recurrence of the same passion is +monotonous; the peculiar methods by which this passion seeks its +own gratification are no less so. + +In an orderly and constituted democracy like the United +States, where men cannot enrich themselves by war, by public +office, or by political confiscation, the love of wealth mainly +drives them into business and manufactures. Although these +pursuits often bring about great commotions and disasters, they +cannot prosper without strictly regular habits and a long routine +of petty uniform acts. The stronger the passion is, the more +regular are these habits, and the more uniform are these acts. +It may be said that it is the vehemence of their desires which +makes the Americans so methodical; it perturbs their minds, but +it disciplines their lives. + +The remark I here apply to America may indeed be addressed +to almost all our contemporaries. Variety is disappearing from +the human race; the same ways of acting, thinking, and feeling +are to be met with all over the world. This is not only because +nations work more upon each other, and are more faithful in their +mutual imitation; but as the men of each country relinquish more +and more the peculiar opinions and feelings of a caste, a +profession, or a family, they simultaneously arrive at something +nearer to the constitution of man, which is everywhere the same. +Thus they become more alike, even without having imitated each +other. Like travellers scattered about some large wood, which is +intersected by paths converging to one point, if all of them +keep, their eyes fixed upon that point and advance towards it, +they insensibly draw nearer together - though they seek not, +though they see not, though they know not each other; and they +will be surprised at length to find themselves all collected on +the same spot. All the nations which take, not any particular +man, but man himself, as the object of their researches and their +imitations, are tending in the end to a similar state of society, +like these travellers converging to the central plot of the +forest. + + +Book Three - Chapter XVIII + +Chapter XVIII: Of Honor In The United States And In Democratic +Communities + +It would seem that men employ two very distinct methods in +the public estimation *a of the actions of their fellowmen; at +one time they judge them by those simple notions of right and +wrong which are diffused all over the world; at another they +refer their decision to a few very special notions which belong +exclusively to some particular age and country. It often happens +that these two rules differ; they sometimes conflict: but they +are never either entirely identified or entirely annulled by one +another. Honor, at the periods of its greatest power, sways the +will more than the belief of men; and even whilst they yield +without hesitation and without a murmur to its dictates, they +feel notwithstanding, by a dim but mighty instinct, the existence +of a more general, more ancient, and more holy law, which they +sometimes disobey although they cease not to acknowledge it. +Some actions have been held to be at the same time virtuous and +dishonorable - a refusal to fight a duel is a case in point. + +[Footnote a: The word "honor" is not always used in the same +sense either in French or English. I. It first signifies the +dignity, glory, or reverence which a man receives from his kind; +and in this sense a man is said to acquire honor. 2. Honor +signifies the aggregate of those rules by the assistance of which +this dignity, glory, or reverence is obtained. Thus we say that +a man has always strictly obeyed the laws of honor; or a man has +violated his honor. In this chapter the word is always used in +the latter sense.] + +I think these peculiarities may be otherwise explained than +by the mere caprices of certain individuals and nations, as has +hitherto been the customary mode of reasoning on the subject. +Mankind is subject to general and lasting wants that have +engendered moral laws, to the neglect of which men have ever and +in all places attached the notion of censure and shame: to +infringe them was "to do ill" - "to do well" was to conform to +them. Within the bosom of this vast association of the human +race, lesser associations have been formed which are called +nations; and amidst these nations further subdivisions have +assumed the names of classes or castes. Each of these +associations forms, as it were, a separate species of the human +race; and though it has no essential difference from the mass of +mankind, to a certain extent it stands apart and has certain +wants peculiar to itself. To these special wants must be +attributed the modifications which affect in various degrees and +in different countries the mode of considering human actions, and +the estimate which ought to be formed of them. It is the general +and permanent interest of mankind that men should not kill each +other: but it may happen to be the peculiar and temporary +interest of a people or a class to justify, or even to honor, +homicide. + +Honor is simply that peculiar rule, founded upon a peculiar +state of society, by the application of which a people or a class +allot praise or blame. Nothing is more unproductive to the mind +than an abstract idea; I therefore hasten to call in the aid of +facts and examples to illustrate my meaning. + +I select the most extraordinary kind of honor which was ever +known in the world, and that which we are best acquainted with, +viz., aristocratic honor springing out of feudal society. I +shall explain it by means of the principle already laid down, and +I shall explain the principle by means of the illustration. I am +not here led to inquire when and how the aristocracy of the +Middle Ages came into existence, why it was so deeply severed +from the remainder of the nation, or what founded and +consolidated its power. I take its existence as an established +fact, and I am endeavoring to account for the peculiar view which +it took of the greater part of human actions. The first thing +that strikes me is, that in the feudal world actions were not +always praised or blamed with reference to their intrinsic worth, +but that they were sometimes appreciated exclusively with +reference to the person who was the actor or the object of them, +which is repugnant to the general conscience of mankind. Thus +some of the actions which were indifferent on the part of a man +in humble life, dishonored a noble; others changed their whole +character according as the person aggrieved by them belonged or +did not belong to the aristocracy. When these different notions +first arose, the nobility formed a distinct body amidst the +people, which it commanded from the inaccessible heights where it +was ensconced. To maintain this peculiar position, which +constituted its strength, it not only required political +privileges, but it required a standard of right and wrong for its +own especial use. That some particular virtue or vice belonged +to the nobility rather than to the humble classes - that certain +actions were guiltless when they affected the villain, which were +criminal when they touched the noble - these were often arbitrary +matters; but that honor or shame should be attached to a man's +actions according to his condition, was a result of the internal +constitution of an aristocratic community. This has been +actually the case in all the countries which have had an +aristocracy; as long as a trace of the principle remains, these +peculiarities will still exist; to debauch a woman of color +scarcely injures the reputation of an American - to marry her +dishonors him. + +In some cases feudal honor enjoined revenge, and stigmatized +the forgiveness of insults; in others it imperiously commanded +men to conquer their own passions, and imposed forgetfulness of +self. It did not make humanity or kindness its law, but it +extolled generosity; it set more store on liberality than on +benevolence; it allowed men to enrich themselves by gambling or +by war, but not by labor; it preferred great crimes to small +earnings; cupidity was less distasteful to it than avarice; +violence it often sanctioned, but cunning and treachery it +invariably reprobated as contemptible. These fantastical notions +did not proceed exclusively from the caprices of those who +entertained them. A class which has succeeded in placing itself +at the head of and above all others, and which makes perpetual +exertions to maintain this lofty position, must especially honor +those virtues which are conspicuous for their dignity and +splendor, and which may be easily combined with pride and the +love of power. Such men would not hesitate to invert the natural +order of the conscience in order to give those virtues precedence +before all others. It may even be conceived that some of the +more bold and brilliant vices would readily be set above the +quiet, unpretending virtues. The very existence of such a class +in society renders these things unavoidable. + +The nobles of the Middle Ages placed military courage +foremost amongst virtues, and in lieu of many of them. This was +again a peculiar opinion which arose necessarily from the +peculiarity of the state of society. Feudal aristocracy existed +by war and for war; its power had been founded by arms, and by +arms that power was maintained; it therefore required nothing +more than military courage, and that quality was naturally +exalted above all others; whatever denoted it, even at the +expense of reason and humanity, was therefore approved and +frequently enjoined by the manners of the time. Such was the +main principle; the caprice of man was only to be traced in +minuter details. That a man should regard a tap on the cheek as +an unbearable insult, and should be obliged to kill in single +combat the person who struck him thus lightly, is an arbitrary +rule; but that a noble could not tranquilly receive an insult, +and was dishonored if he allowed himself to take a blow without +fighting, were direct consequences of the fundamental principles +and the wants of military aristocracy. + +Thus it was true to a certain extent to assert that the laws +of honor were capricious; but these caprices of honor were always +confined within certain necessary limits. The peculiar rule, +which was called honor by our forefathers, is so far from being +an arbitrary law in my eyes, that I would readily engage to +ascribe its most incoherent and fantastical injunctions to a +small number of fixed and invariable wants inherent in feudal +society. + +If I were to trace the notion of feudal honor into the +domain of politics, I should not find it more difficult to +explain its dictates. The state of society and the political +institutions of the Middle Ages were such, that the supreme power +of the nation never governed the community directly. That power +did not exist in the eyes of the people: every man looked up to a +certain individual whom he was bound to obey; by that +intermediate personage he was connected with all the others. +Thus in feudal society the whole system of the commonwealth +rested upon the sentiment of fidelity to the person of the lord: +to destroy that sentiment was to open the sluices of anarchy. +Fidelity to a political superior was, moreover, a sentiment of +which all the members of the aristocracy had constant +opportunities of estimating the importance; for every one of them +was a vassal as well as a lord, and had to command as well as to +obey. To remain faithful to the lord, to sacrifice one's self +for him if called upon, to share his good or evil fortunes, to +stand by him in his undertakings whatever they might be - such +were the first injunctions of feudal honor in relation to the +political institutions of those times. The treachery of a vassal +was branded with extraordinary severity by public opinion, and a +name of peculiar infamy was invented for the offence which was +called "felony." + +On the contrary, few traces are to be found in the Middle +Ages of the passion which constituted the life of the nations of +antiquity - I mean patriotism; the word itself is not of very +ancient date in the language. *b Feudal institutions concealed +the country at large from men's sight, and rendered the love of +it less necessary. The nation was forgotten in the passions +which attached men to persons. Hence it was no part of the +strict law of feudal honor to remain faithful to one's country. +Not indeed that the love of their country did not exist in the +hearts of our forefathers; but it constituted a dim and feeble +instinct, which has grown more clear and strong in proportion as +aristocratic classes have been abolished, and the supreme power +of the nation centralized. This may be clearly seen from the +contrary judgments which European nations have passed upon the +various events of their histories, according to the generations +by which such judgments have been formed. The circumstance which +most dishonored the Constable de Bourbon in the eyes of his +contemporaries was that he bore arms against his king: that which +most dishonors him in our eyes, is that he made war against his +country; we brand him as deeply as our forefathers did, but for +different reasons. + +[Footnote b: Even the word "patrie" was not used by the French +writers until the sixteenth century.] + +I have chosen the honor of feudal times by way of +illustration of my meaning, because its characteristics are more +distinctly marked and more familiar to us than those of any other +period; but I might have taken an example elsewhere, and I should +have reached the same conclusion by a different road. Although +we are less perfectly acquainted with the Romans than with our +own ancestors, yet we know that certain peculiar notions of glory +and disgrace obtained amongst them, which were not solely derived +from the general principles of right and wrong. Many human +actions were judged differently, according as they affected a +Roman citizen or a stranger, a freeman or a slave; certain vices +were blazoned abroad, certain virtues were extolled above all +others. "In that age," says Plutarch in the life of Coriolanus, +"martial prowess was more honored and prized in Rome than all the +other virtues, insomuch that it was called virtus, the name of +virtue itself, by applying the name of the kind to this +particular species; so that virtue in Latin was as much as to say +valor." Can anyone fail to recognize the peculiar want of that +singular community which was formed for the conquest of the +world? + +Any nation would furnish us with similar grounds of +observation; for, as I have already remarked, whenever men +collect together as a distinct community, the notion of honor +instantly grows up amongst them; that is to say, a system of +opinions peculiar to themselves as to what is blamable or +commendable; and these peculiar rules always originate in the +special habits and special interests of the community. This is +applicable to a certain extent to democratic communities as well +as to others, as we shall now proceed to prove by the example of +the Americans. *c Some loose notions of the old aristocratic +honor of Europe are still to be found scattered amongst the +opinions of the Americans; but these traditional opinions are few +in number, they have but little root in the country, and but +little power. They are like a religion which has still some +temples left standing, though men have ceased to believe in it. +But amidst these half-obliterated notions of exotic honor, some +new opinions have sprung up, which constitute what may be termed +in our days American honor. I have shown how the Americans are +constantly driven to engage in commerce and industry. Their +origin, their social condition, their political institutions, and +even the spot they inhabit, urge them irresistibly in this +direction. Their present condition is then that of an almost +exclusively manufacturing and commercial association, placed in +the midst of a new and boundless country, which their principal +object is to explore for purposes of profit. This is the +characteristic which most peculiarly distinguishes the American +people from all others at the present time. All those quiet +virtues which tend to give a regular movement to the community, +and to encourage business, will therefore be held in peculiar +honor by that people, and to neglect those virtues will be to +incur public contempt. All the more turbulent virtues, which +often dazzle, but more frequently disturb society, will on the +contrary occupy a subordinate rank in the estimation of this same +people: they may be neglected without forfeiting the esteem of +the community - to acquire them would perhaps be to run a risk of +losing it. + +[Footnote c: I speak here of the Americans inhabiting those +States where slavery does not exist; they alone can be said to +present a complete picture of democratic society.] + +The Americans make a no less arbitrary classification of +men's vices. There are certain propensities which appear +censurable to the general reason and the universal conscience of +mankind, but which happen to agree with the peculiar and +temporary wants of the American community: these propensities are +lightly reproved, sometimes even encouraged; for instance, the +love of wealth and the secondary propensities connected with it +may be more particularly cited. To clear, to till, and to +transform the vast uninhabited continent which is his domain, the +American requires the daily support of an energetic passion; that +passion can only be the love of wealth; the passion for wealth is +therefore not reprobated in America, and provided it does not go +beyond the bounds assigned to it for public security, it is held +in honor. The American lauds as a noble and praiseworthy ambition +what our own forefathers in the Middle Ages stigmatized as +servile cupidity, just as he treats as a blind and barbarous +frenzy that ardor of conquest and martial temper which bore them +to battle. In the United States fortunes are lost and regained +without difficulty; the country is boundless, and its resources +inexhaustible. The people have all the wants and cravings of a +growing creature; and whatever be their efforts, they are always +surrounded by more than they can appropriate. It is not the ruin +of a few individuals which may be soon repaired, but the +inactivity and sloth of the community at large which would be +fatal to such a people. Boldness of enterprise is the foremost +cause of its rapid progress, its strength, and its greatness. +Commercial business is there like a vast lottery, by which a +small number of men continually lose, but the State is always a +gainer; such a people ought therefore to encourage and do honor +to boldness in commercial speculations. But any bold speculation +risks the fortune of the speculator and of all those who put +their trust in him. The Americans, who make a virtue of +commercial temerity, have no right in any case to brand with +disgrace those who practise it. Hence arises the strange +indulgence which is shown to bankrupts in the United States; +their honor does not suffer by such an accident. In this respect +the Americans differ, not only from the nations of Europe, but +from all the commercial nations of our time, and accordingly they +resemble none of them in their position or their wants. + +In America all those vices which tend to impair the purity +of morals, and to destroy the conjugal tie, are treated with a +degree of severity which is unknown in the rest of the world. At +first sight this seems strangely at variance with the tolerance +shown there on other subjects, and one is surprised to meet with +a morality so relaxed and so austere amongst the selfsame people. +But these things are less incoherent than they seem to be. Public +opinion in the United States very gently represses that love of +wealth which promotes the commercial greatness and the prosperity +of the nation, and it especially condemns that laxity of morals +which diverts the human mind from the pursuit of well-being, and +disturbs the internal order of domestic life which is so +necessary to success in business. To earn the esteem of their +countrymen, the Americans are therefore constrained to adapt +themselves to orderly habits - and it may be said in this sense +that they make it a matter of honor to live chastely. + +On one point American honor accords with the notions of +honor acknowledged in Europe; it places courage as the highest +virtue, and treats it as the greatest of the moral necessities of +man; but the notion of courage itself assumes a different aspect. +In the United States martial valor is but little prized; the +courage which is best known and most esteemed is that which +emboldens men to brave the dangers of the ocean, in order to +arrive earlier in port - to support the privations of the +wilderness without complaint, and solitude more cruel than +privations - the courage which renders them almost insensible to +the loss of a fortune laboriously acquired, and instantly prompts +to fresh exertions to make another. Courage of this kind is +peculiarly necessary to the maintenance and prosperity of the +American communities, and it is held by them in peculiar honor +and estimation; to betray a want of it is to incur certain +disgrace. + +I have yet another characteristic point which may serve to +place the idea of this chapter in stronger relief. In a +democratic society like that of the United States, where fortunes +are scanty and insecure, everybody works, and work opens a way to +everything: this has changed the point of honor quite round, and +has turned it against idleness. I have sometimes met in America +with young men of wealth, personally disinclined to all laborious +exertion, but who had been compelled to embrace a profession. +Their disposition and their fortune allowed them to remain +without employment; public opinion forbade it, too imperiously to +be disobeyed. In the European countries, on the contrary, where +aristocracy is still struggling with the flood which overwhelms +it, I have often seen men, constantly spurred on by their wants +and desires, remain in idleness, in order not to lose the esteem +of their equals; and I have known them submit to ennui and +privations rather than to work. No one can fail to perceive that +these opposite obligations are two different rules of conduct, +both nevertheless originating in the notion of honor. + +What our forefathers designated as honor absolutely was in +reality only one of its forms; they gave a generic name to what +was only a species. Honor therefore is to be found in democratic +as well as in aristocratic ages, but it will not be difficult to +show that it assumes a different aspect in the former. Not only +are its injunctions different, but we shall shortly see that they +are less numerous, less precise, and that its dictates are less +rigorously obeyed. The position of a caste is always much more +peculiar than that of a people. Nothing is so much out of the +way of the world as a small community invariably composed of the +same families (as was for instance the aristocracy of the Middle +Ages), whose object is to concentrate and to retain, exclusively +and hereditarily, education, wealth, and power amongst its own +members. But the more out of the way the position of a community +happens to be, the more numerous are its special wants, and the +more extensive are its notions of honor corresponding to those +wants. The rules of honor will therefore always be less numerous +amongst a people not divided into castes than amongst any other. +If ever any nations are constituted in which it may even be +difficult to find any peculiar classes of society, the notion of +honor will be confined to a small number of precepts, which will +be more and more in accordance with the moral laws adopted by the +mass of mankind. Thus the laws of honor will be less peculiar +and less multifarious amongst a democratic people than in an +aristocracy. They will also be more obscure; and this is a +necessary consequence of what goes before; for as the +distinguishing marks of honor are less numerous and less +peculiar, it must often be difficult to distinguish them. To +this, other reasons may be added. Amongst the aristocratic +nations of the Middle Ages, generation succeeded generation in +vain; each family was like a never-dying, ever-stationary man, +and the state of opinions was hardly more changeable than that of +conditions. Everyone then had always the same objects before his +eyes, which he contemplated from the same point; his eyes +gradually detected the smallest details, and his discernment +could not fail to become in the end clear and accurate. Thus not +only had the men of feudal times very extraordinary opinions in +matters of honor, but each of those opinions was present to their +minds under a clear and precise form. + +This can never be the case in America, where all men are in +constant motion; and where society, transformed daily by its own +operations, changes its opinions together with its wants. In +such a country men have glimpses of the rules of honor, but they +have seldom time to fix attention upon them. + +But even if society were motionless, it would still be +difficult to determine the meaning which ought to be attached to +the word "honor." In the Middle Ages, as each class had its own +honor, the same opinion was never received at the same time by a +large number of men; and this rendered it possible to give it a +determined and accurate form, which was the more easy, as all +those by whom it was received, having a perfectly identical and +most peculiar position, were naturally disposed to agree upon the +points of a law which was made for themselves alone. Thus the +code of honor became a complete and detailed system, in which +everything was anticipated and provided for beforehand, and a +fixed and always palpable standard was applied to human actions. +Amongst a democratic nation, like the Americans, in which ranks +are identified, and the whole of society forms one single mass, +composed of elements which are all analogous though not entirely +similar, it is impossible ever to agree beforehand on what shall +or shall not be allowed by the laws of honor. Amongst that +people, indeed, some national wants do exist which give rise to +opinions common to the whole nation on points of honor; but these +opinions never occur at the same time, in the same manner, or +with the same intensity to the minds of the whole community; the +law of honor exists, but it has no organs to promulgate it. + +The confusion is far greater still in a democratic country +like France, where the different classes of which the former +fabric of society was composed, being brought together but not +yet mingled, import day by day into each other's circles various +and sometimes conflicting notions of honor -where every man, at +his own will and pleasure, forsakes one portion of his +forefathers' creed, and retains another; so that, amidst so many +arbitrary measures, no common rule can ever be established, and +it is almost impossible to predict which actions will be held in +honor and which will be thought disgraceful. Such times are +wretched, but they are of short duration. + +As honor, amongst democratic nations, is imperfectly +defined, its influence is of course less powerful; for it is +difficult to apply with certainty and firmness a law which is not +distinctly known. Public opinion, the natural and supreme +interpreter of the laws of honor, not clearly discerning to which +side censure or approval ought to lean, can only pronounce a +hesitating judgment. Sometimes the opinion of the public may +contradict itself; more frequently it does not act, and lets +things pass. + +The weakness of the sense of honor in democracies also +arises from several other causes. In aristocratic countries, the +same notions of honor are always entertained by only a few +persons, always limited in number, often separated from the rest +of their fellow-citizens. Honor is easily mingled and identified +in their minds with the idea of all that distinguishes their own +position; it appears to them as the chief characteristic of their +own rank; they apply its different rules with all the warmth of +personal interest, and they feel (if I may use the expression) a +passion for complying with its dictates. This truth is extremely +obvious in the old black-letter lawbooks on the subject of "trial +by battel." The nobles, in their disputes, were bound to use the +lance and sword; whereas the villains used only sticks amongst +themselves, "inasmuch as," to use the words of the old books, +"villains have no honor." This did not mean, as it may be +imagined at the present day, that these people were contemptible; +but simply that their actions were not to be judged by the same +rules which were applied to the actions of the aristocracy. + +It is surprising, at first sight, that when the sense of +honor is most predominant, its injunctions are usually most +strange; so that the further it is removed from common reason the +better it is obeyed; whence it has sometimes been inferred that +the laws of honor were strengthened by their own extravagance. +The two things indeed originate from the same source, but the one +is not derived from the other. Honor becomes fantastical in +proportion to the peculiarity of the wants which it denotes, and +the paucity of the men by whom those wants are felt; and it is +because it denotes wants of this kind that its influence is +great. Thus the notion of honor is not the stronger for being +fantastical, but it is fantastical and strong from the selfsame +cause. + +Further, amongst aristocratic nations each rank is +different, but all ranks are fixed; every man occupies a place in +his own sphere which he cannot relinquish, and he lives there +amidst other men who are bound by the same ties. Amongst these +nations no man can either hope or fear to escape being seen; no +man is placed so low but that he has a stage of his own, and none +can avoid censure or applause by his obscurity. In democratic +States on the contrary, where all the members of the community +are mingled in the same crowd and in constant agitation, public +opinion has no hold on men; they disappear at every instant, and +elude its power. Consequently the dictates of honor will be +there less imperious and less stringent; for honor acts solely +for the public eye - differing in this respect from mere virtue, +which lives upon itself contented with its own approval. + +If the reader has distinctly apprehended all that goes +before, he will understand that there is a close and necessary +relation between the inequality of social conditions and what has +here been styled honor - a relation which, if I am not mistaken, +had not before been clearly pointed out. I shall therefore make +one more attempt to illustrate it satisfactorily. Suppose a +nation stands apart from the rest of mankind: independently of +certain general wants inherent in the human race, it will also +have wants and interests peculiar to itself: certain opinions of +censure or approbation forthwith arise in the community, which +are peculiar to itself, and which are styled honor by the members +of that community. Now suppose that in this same nation a caste +arises, which, in its turn, stands apart from all the other +classes, and contracts certain peculiar wants, which give rise in +their turn to special opinions. The honor of this caste, +composed of a medley of the peculiar notions of the nation, and +the still more peculiar notions of the caste, will be as remote +as it is possible to conceive from the simple and general +opinions of men. + +Having reached this extreme point of the argument, I now +return. When ranks are commingled and privileges abolished, the +men of whom a nation is composed being once more equal and alike, +their interests and wants become identical, and all the peculiar +notions which each caste styled honor successively disappear: the +notion of honor no longer proceeds from any other source than the +wants peculiar to the nation at large, and it denotes the +individual character of that nation to the world. Lastly, if it +be allowable to suppose that all the races of mankind should be +commingled, and that all the peoples of earth should ultimately +come to have the same interests, the same wants, undistinguished +from each other by any characteristic peculiarities, no +conventional value whatever would then be attached to men's +actions; they would all be regarded by all in the same light; the +general necessities of mankind, revealed by conscience to every +man, would become the common standard. The simple and general +notions of right and wrong only would then be recognized in the +world, to which, by a natural and necessary tie, the idea of +censure or approbation would be attached. Thus, to comprise all +my meaning in a single proposition, the dissimilarities and +inequalities of men gave rise to the notion of honor; that notion +is weakened in proportion as these differences are obliterated, +and with them it would disappear. + + +Book Three - Chapters XIX-XXI + +Chapter XIX: Why So Many Ambitious Men And So Little Lofty +Ambition Are To Be Found In The United States + +The first thing which strikes a traveller in the United +States is the innumerable multitude of those who seek to throw +off their original condition; and the second is the rarity of +lofty ambition to be observed in the midst of the universally +ambitious stir of society. No Americans are devoid of a yearning +desire to rise; but hardly any appear to entertain hopes of great +magnitude, or to drive at very lofty aims. All are constantly +seeking to acquire property, power, and reputation - few +contemplate these things upon a great scale; and this is the more +surprising, as nothing is to be discerned in the manners or laws +of America to limit desire, or to prevent it from spreading its +impulses in every direction. It seems difficult to attribute +this singular state of things to the equality of social +conditions; for at the instant when that same equality was +established in France, the flight of ambition became unbounded. +Nevertheless, I think that the principal cause which may be +assigned to this fact is to be found in the social condition and +democratic manners of the Americans. + +All revolutions enlarge the ambition of men: this +proposition is more peculiarly true of those revolutions which +overthrow an aristocracy. When the former barriers which kept +back the multitude from fame and power are suddenly thrown down, +a violent and universal rise takes place towards that eminence so +long coveted and at length to be enjoyed. In this first burst of +triumph nothing seems impossible to anyone: not only are desires +boundless, but the power of satisfying them seems almost +boundless, too. Amidst the general and sudden renewal of laws and +customs, in this vast confusion of all men and all ordinances, +the various members of the community rise and sink again with +excessive rapidity; and power passes so quickly from hand to hand +that none need despair of catching it in turn. It must be +recollected, moreover, that the people who destroy an aristocracy +have lived under its laws; they have witnessed its splendor, and +they have unconsciously imbibed the feelings and notions which it +entertained. Thus at the moment when an aristocracy is +dissolved, its spirit still pervades the mass of the community, +and its tendencies are retained long after it has been defeated. +Ambition is therefore always extremely great as long as a +democratic revolution lasts, and it will remain so for some time +after the revolution is consummated. The reminiscence of the +extraordinary events which men have witnessed is not obliterated +from their memory in a day. The passions which a revolution has +roused do not disappear at its close. A sense of instability +remains in the midst of re-established order: a notion of easy +success survives the strange vicissitudes which gave it birth; +desires still remain extremely enlarged, when the means of +satisfying them are diminished day by day. The taste for large +fortunes subsists, though large fortunes are rare: and on every +side we trace the ravages of inordinate and hapless ambition +kindled in hearts which they consume in secret and in vain. + +At length, however, the last vestiges of the struggle are +effaced; the remains of aristocracy completely disappear; the +great events by which its fall was attended are forgotten; peace +succeeds to war, and the sway of order is restored in the new +realm; desires are again adapted to the means by which they may +be fulfilled; the wants, the opinions, and the feelings of men +cohere once more; the level of the community is permanently +determined, and democratic society established. A democratic +nation, arrived at this permanent and regular state of things, +will present a very different spectacle from that which we have +just described; and we may readily conclude that, if ambition +becomes great whilst the conditions of society are growing equal, +it loses that quality when they have grown so. As wealth is +subdivided and knowledge diffused, no one is entirely destitute +of education or of property; the privileges and disqualifications +of caste being abolished, and men having shattered the bonds +which held them fixed, the notion of advancement suggests itself +to every mind, the desire to rise swells in every heart, and all +men want to mount above their station: ambition is the universal +feeling. + +But if the equality of conditions gives some resources to +all the members of the community, it also prevents any of them +from having resources of great extent, which necessarily +circumscribes their desires within somewhat narrow limits. Thus +amongst democratic nations ambition is ardent and continual, but +its aim is not habitually lofty; and life is generally spent in +eagerly coveting small objects which are within reach. What +chiefly diverts the men of democracies from lofty ambition is not +the scantiness of their fortunes, but the vehemence of the +exertions they daily make to improve them. They strain their +faculties to the utmost to achieve paltry results, and this +cannot fail speedily to limit their discernment and to +circumscribe their powers. They might be much poorer and still +be greater. The small number of opulent citizens who are to be +found amidst a democracy do not constitute an exception to this +rule. A man who raises himself by degrees to wealth and power, +contracts, in the course of this protracted labor, habits of +prudence and restraint which he cannot afterwards shake off. A +man cannot enlarge his mind as he would his house. The same +observation is applicable to the sons of such a man; they are +born, it is true, in a lofty position, but their parents were +humble; they have grown up amidst feelings and notions which they +cannot afterwards easily get rid of; and it may be presumed that +they will inherit the propensities of their father as well as his +wealth. It may happen, on the contrary, that the poorest scion +of a powerful aristocracy may display vast ambition, because the +traditional opinions of his race and the general spirit of his +order still buoy him up for some time above his fortune. +Another thing which prevents the men of democratic periods +from easily indulging in the pursuit of lofty objects, is the +lapse of time which they foresee must take place before they can +be ready to approach them. "It is a great advantage," says +Pascal, "to be a man of quality, since it brings one man as +forward at eighteen or twenty as another man would be at fifty, +which is a clear gain of thirty years." Those thirty years are +commonly wanting to the ambitious characters of democracies. The +principle of equality, which allows every man to arrive at +everything, prevents all men from rapid advancement. + +In a democratic society, as well as elsewhere, there are +only a certain number of great fortunes to be made; and as the +paths which lead to them are indiscriminately open to all, the +progress of all must necessarily be slackened. As the candidates +appear to be nearly alike, and as it is difficult to make a +selection without infringing the principle of equality, which is +the supreme law of democratic societies, the first idea which +suggests itself is to make them all advance at the same rate and +submit to the same probation. Thus in proportion as men become +more alike, and the principle of equality is more peaceably and +deeply infused into the institutions and manners of the country, +the rules of advancement become more inflexible, advancement +itself slower, the difficulty of arriving quickly at a certain +height far greater. From hatred of privilege and from the +embarrassment of choosing, all men are at last constrained, +whatever may be their standard, to pass the same ordeal; all are +indiscriminately subjected to a multitude of petty preliminary +exercises, in which their youth is wasted and their imagination +quenched, so that they despair of ever fully attaining what is +held out to them; and when at length they are in a condition to +perform any extraordinary acts, the taste for such things has +forsaken them. + +In China, where the equality of conditions is exceedingly +great and very ancient, no man passes from one public office to +another without undergoing a probationary trial. This probation +occurs afresh at every stage of his career; and the notion is now +so rooted in the manners of the people that I remember to have +read a Chinese novel, in which the hero, after numberless +crosses, succeeds at length in touching the heart of his mistress +by taking honors. A lofty ambition breathes with difficulty in +such an atmosphere. + +The remark I apply to politics extends to everything; +equality everywhere produces the same effects; where the laws of +a country do not regulate and retard the advancement of men by +positive enactment, competition attains the same end. In a +well-established democratic community great and rapid elevation +is therefore rare; it forms an exception to the common rule; and +it is the singularity of such occurrences that makes men forget +how rarely they happen. Men living in democracies ultimately +discover these things; they find out at last that the laws of +their country open a boundless field of action before them, but +that no one can hope to hasten across it. Between them and the +final object of their desires, they perceive a multitude of small +intermediate impediments, which must be slowly surmounted: this +prospect wearies and discourages their ambition at once. They +therefore give up hopes so doubtful and remote, to search nearer +to themselves for less lofty and more easy enjoyments. Their +horizon is not bounded by the laws but narrowed by themselves. + +I have remarked that lofty ambitions are more rare in the +ages of democracy than in times of aristocracy: I may add that +when, in spite of these natural obstacles, they do spring into +existence, their character is different. In aristocracies the +career of ambition is often wide, but its boundaries are +determined. In democracies ambition commonly ranges in a +narrower field, but if once it gets beyond that, hardly any +limits can be assigned to it. As men are individually weak - as +they live asunder, and in constant motion - as precedents are of +little authority and laws but of short duration, resistance to +novelty is languid, and the fabric of society never appears +perfectly erect or firmly consolidated. So that, when once an +ambitious man has the power in his grasp, there is nothing he may +noted are; and when it is gone from him, he meditates the +overthrow of the State to regain it. This gives to great +political ambition a character of revolutionary violence, which +it seldom exhibits to an equal degree in aristocratic +communities. The common aspect of democratic nations will +present a great number of small and very rational objects of +ambition, from amongst which a few ill-controlled desires of a +larger growth will at intervals break out: but no such a thing as +ambition conceived and contrived on a vast scale is to be met +with there. + +I have shown elsewhere by what secret influence the +principle of equality makes the passion for physical +gratifications and the exclusive love of the present predominate +in the human heart: these different propensities mingle with the +sentiment of ambition, and tinge it, as it were, with their hues. +I believe that ambitious men in democracies are less engrossed +than any others with the interests and the judgment of posterity; +the present moment alone engages and absorbs them. They are more +apt to complete a number of undertakings with rapidity than to +raise lasting monuments of their achievements; and they care much +more for success than for fame. What they most ask of men is +obedience - what they most covet is empire. Their manners have +in almost all cases remained below the height of their station; +the consequence is that they frequently carry very low tastes +into their extraordinary fortunes, and that they seem to have +acquired the supreme power only to minister to their coarse or +paltry pleasures. + +I think that in our time it is very necessary to cleanse, to +regulate, and to adapt the feeling of ambition, but that it would +be extremely dangerous to seek to impoverish and to repress it +over-much. We should attempt to lay down certain extreme limits, +which it should never be allowed to outstep; but its range within +those established limits should not be too much checked. I +confess that I apprehend much less for democratic society from +the boldness than from the mediocrity of desires. What appears +to me most to be dreaded is that, in the midst of the small +incessant occupations of private life, ambition should lose its +vigor and its greatness - that the passions of man should abate, +but at the same time be lowered, so that the march of society +should every day become more tranquil and less aspiring. I think +then that the leaders of modern society would be wrong to seek to +lull the community by a state of too uniform and too peaceful +happiness; and that it is well to expose it from time to time to +matters of difficulty and danger, in order to raise ambition and +to give it a field of action. Moralists are constantly +complaining that the ruling vice of the present time is pride. +This is true in one sense, for indeed no one thinks that he is +not better than his neighbor, or consents to obey his superior: +but it is extremely false in another; for the same man who cannot +endure subordination or equality, has so contemptible an opinion +of himself that he thinks he is only born to indulge in vulgar +pleasures. He willingly takes up with low desires, without +daring to embark in lofty enterprises, of which he scarcely +dreams. Thus, far from thinking that humility ought to be +preached to our contemporaries, I would have endeavors made to +give them a more enlarged idea of themselves and of their kind. +Humility is unwholesome to them; what they most want is, in my +opinion, pride. I would willingly exchange several of our small +virtues for this one vice. + +Chapter XX: The Trade Of Place-Hunting In Certain Democratic +Countries + +In the United States as soon as a man has acquired some +education and pecuniary resources, he either endeavors to get +rich by commerce or industry, or he buys land in the bush and +turns pioneer. All that he asks of the State is not to be +disturbed in his toil, and to be secure of his earnings. Amongst +the greater part of European nations, when a man begins to feel +his strength and to extend his desires, the first thing that +occurs to him is to get some public employment. These opposite +effects, originating in the same cause, deserve our passing +notice. + +When public employments are few in number, ill-paid and +precarious, whilst the different lines of business are numerous +and lucrative, it is to business, and not to official duties, +that the new and eager desires engendered by the principle of +equality turn from every side. But if, whilst the ranks of +society are becoming more equal, the education of the people +remains incomplete, or their spirit the reverse of bold - if +commerce and industry, checked in their growth, afford only slow +and arduous means of making a fortune - the various members of +the community, despairing of ameliorating their own condition, +rush to the head of the State and demand its assistance. To +relieve their own necessities at the cost of the public treasury, +appears to them to be the easiest and most open, if not the only, +way they have to rise above a condition which no longer contents +them; place-hunting becomes the most generally followed of all +trades. This must especially be the case, in those great +centralized monarchies in which the number of paid offices is +immense, and the tenure of them tolerably secure, so that no one +despairs of obtaining a place, and of enjoying it as +undisturbedly as a hereditary fortune. + +I shall not remark that the universal and inordinate desire +for place is a great social evil; that it destroys the spirit of +independence in the citizen, and diffuses a venal and servile +humor throughout the frame of society; that it stifles the +manlier virtues: nor shall I be at the pains to demonstrate that +this kind of traffic only creates an unproductive activity, which +agitates the country without adding to its resources: all these +things are obvious. But I would observe, that a government which +encourages this tendency risks its own tranquillity, and places +its very existence in great jeopardy. I am aware that at a time +like our own, when the love and respect which formerly clung to +authority are seen gradually to decline, it may appear necessary +to those in power to lay a closer hold on every man by his own +interest, and it may seem convenient to use his own passions to +keep him in order and in silence; but this cannot be so long, and +what may appear to be a source of strength for a certain time +will assuredly become in the end a great cause of embarrassment +and weakness. + +Amongst democratic nations, as well as elsewhere, the number +of official appointments has in the end some limits; but amongst +those nations, the number of aspirants is unlimited; it +perpetually increases, with a gradual and irresistible rise in +proportion as social conditions become more equal, and is only +checked by the limits of the population. Thus, when public +employments afford the only outlet for ambition, the government +necessarily meets with a permanent opposition at last; for it is +tasked to satisfy with limited means unlimited desires. It is +very certain that of all people in the world the most difficult +to restrain and to manage are a people of solicitants. Whatever +endeavors are made by rulers, such a people can never be +contented; and it is always to be apprehended that they will +ultimately overturn the constitution of the country, and change +the aspect of the State, for the sole purpose of making a +clearance of places. The sovereigns of the present age, who +strive to fix upon themselves alone all those novel desires which +are aroused by equality, and to satisfy them, will repent in the +end, if I am not mistaken, that they ever embarked in this +policy: they will one day discover that they have hazarded their +own power, by making it so necessary; and that the more safe and +honest course would have been to teach their subjects the art of +providing for themselves. *a + +[Footnote a: [As a matter of fact, more recent experience has +shown that place-hunting is quite as intense in the United States +as in any country in Europe. It is regarded by the Americans +themselves as one of the great evils of their social condition, +and it powerfully affects their political institutions. But the +American who seeks a place seeks not so much a means of +subsistence as the distinction which office and public employment +confer. In the absence of any true aristocracy, the public +service creates a spurious one, which is as much an object of +ambition as the distinctions of rank in aristocratic countries. - +Translator's Note.]] + + +Book Three - Chapters XXI-XXII + +Chapter XXI: Why Great Revolutions Will Become More Rare + +A people which has existed for centuries under a system of +castes and classes can only arrive at a democratic state of +society by passing through a long series of more or less critical +transformations, accomplished by violent efforts, and after +numerous vicissitudes; in the course of which, property, +opinions, and power are rapidly transferred from one hand to +another. Even after this great revolution is consummated, the +revolutionary habits engendered by it may long be traced, and it +will be followed by deep commotion. As all this takes place at +the very time at which social conditions are becoming more equal, +it is inferred that some concealed relation and secret tie exist +between the principle of equality itself and revolution, insomuch +that the one cannot exist without giving rise to the other. + +On this point reasoning may seem to lead to the same result +as experience. Amongst a people whose ranks are nearly equal, no +ostensible bond connects men together, or keeps them settled in +their station. None of them have either a permanent right or +power to command - none are forced by their condition to obey; +but every man, finding himself possessed of some education and +some resources, may choose his won path and proceed apart from +all his fellow-men. The same causes which make the members of +the community independent of each other, continually impel them +to new and restless desires, and constantly spur them onwards. +It therefore seems natural that, in a democratic community, men, +things, and opinions should be forever changing their form and +place, and that democratic ages should be times of rapid and +incessant transformation. + +But is this really the case? does the equality of social +conditions habitually and permanently lead men to revolution? +does that state of society contain some perturbing principle +which prevents the community from ever subsiding into calm, and +disposes the citizens to alter incessantly their laws, their +principles, and their manners? I do not believe it; and as the +subject is important, I beg for the reader's close attention. +Almost all the revolutions which have changed the aspect of +nations have been made to consolidate or to destroy social +inequality. Remove the secondary causes which have produced the +great convulsions of the world, and you will almost always find +the principle of inequality at the bottom. Either the poor have +attempted to plunder the rich, or the rich to enslave the poor. +If then a state of society can ever be founded in which every man +shall have something to keep, and little to take from others, +much will have been done for the peace of the world. I am aware +that amongst a great democratic people there will always be some +members of the community in great poverty, and others in great +opulence; but the poor, instead of forming the immense majority +of the nation, as is always the case in aristocratic communities, +are comparatively few in number, and the laws do not bind them +together by the ties of irremediable and hereditary penury. The +wealthy, on their side, are scarce and powerless; they have no +privileges which attract public observation; even their wealth, +as it is no longer incorporated and bound up with the soil, is +impalpable, and as it were invisible. As there is no longer a +race of poor men, so there is no longer a race of rich men; the +latter spring up daily from the multitude, and relapse into it +again. Hence they do not form a distinct class, which may be +easily marked out and plundered; and, moreover, as they are +connected with the mass of their fellow-citizens by a thousand +secret ties, the people cannot assail them without inflicting an +injury upon itself. Between these two extremes of democratic +communities stand an innumerable multitude of men almost alike, +who, without being exactly either rich or poor, are possessed of +sufficient property to desire the maintenance of order, yet not +enough to excite envy. Such men are the natural enemies of +violent commotions: their stillness keeps all beneath them and +above them still, and secures the balance of the fabric of +society. Not indeed that even these men are contented with what +they have gotten, or that they feel a natural abhorrence for a +revolution in which they might share the spoil without sharing +the calamity; on the contrary, they desire, with unexampled +ardor, to get rich, but the difficulty is to know from whom +riches can be taken. The same state of society which constantly +prompts desires, restrains these desires within necessary limits: +it gives men more liberty of changing and less interest in +change. + +Not only are the men of democracies not naturally desirous +of revolutions, but they are afraid of them. All revolutions +more or less threaten the tenure of property: but most of those +who live in democratic countries are possessed of property - not +only are they possessed of property, but they live in the +condition of men who set the greatest store upon their property. +If we attentively consider each of the classes of which society +is composed, it is easy to see that the passions engendered by +property are keenest and most tenacious amongst the middle +classes. The poor often care but little for what they possess, +because they suffer much more from the want of what they have +not, than they enjoy the little they have. The rich have many +other passions besides that of riches to satisfy; and, besides, +the long and arduous enjoyment of a great fortune sometimes makes +them in the end insensible to its charms. But the men who have a +competency, alike removed from opulence and from penury, attach +an enormous value to their possessions. As they are still almost +within the reach of poverty, they see its privations near at +hand, and dread them; between poverty and themselves there is +nothing but a scanty fortune, upon which they immediately fix +their apprehensions and their hopes. Every day increases the +interest they take in it, by the constant cares which it +occasions; and they are the more attached to it by their +continual exertions to increase the amount. The notion of +surrendering the smallest part of it is insupportable to them, +and they consider its total loss as the worst of misfortunes. +Now these eager and apprehensive men of small property constitute +the class which is constantly increased by the equality of +conditions. Hence, in democratic communities, the majority of +the people do not clearly see what they have to gain by a +revolution, but they continually and in a thousand ways feel that +they might lose by one. + +I have shown in another part of this work that the equality +of conditions naturally urges men to embark in commercial and +industrial pursuits, and that it tends to increase and to +distribute real property: I have also pointed out the means by +which it inspires every man with an eager and constant desire to +increase his welfare. Nothing is more opposed to revolutionary +passions than these things. It may happen that the final result +of a revolution is favorable to commerce and manufactures; but +its first consequence will almost always be the ruin of +manufactures and mercantile men, because it must always change at +once the general principles of consumption, and temporarily upset +the existing proportion between supply and demand. I know of +nothing more opposite to revolutionary manners than commercial +manners. Commerce is naturally adverse to all the violent +passions; it loves to temporize, takes delight in compromise, and +studiously avoids irritation. It is patient, insinuating, +flexible, and never has recourse to extreme measures until +obliged by the most absolute necessity. Commerce renders men +independent of each other, gives them a lofty notion of their +personal importance, leads them to seek to conduct their own +affairs, and teaches how to conduct them well; it therefore +prepares men for freedom, but preserves them from revolutions. +In a revolution the owners of personal property have more to fear +than all others; for on the one hand their property is often easy +to seize, and on the other it may totally disappear at any moment +- a subject of alarm to which the owners of real property are +less exposed, since, although they may lose the income of their +estates, they may hope to preserve the land itself through the +greatest vicissitudes. Hence the former are much more alarmed at +the symptoms of revolutionary commotion than the latter. Thus +nations are less disposed to make revolutions in proportion as +personal property is augmented and distributed amongst them, and +as the number of those possessing it increases. Moreover, +whatever profession men may embrace, and whatever species of +property they may possess, one characteristic is common to them +all. No one is fully contented with his present fortune - all +are perpetually striving in a thousand ways to improve it. +Consider any one of them at any period of his life, and he will +be found engaged with some new project for the purpose of +increasing what he has; talk not to him of the interests and the +rights of mankind: this small domestic concern absorbs for the +time all his thoughts, and inclines him to defer political +excitement to some other season. This not only prevents men from +making revolutions, but deters men from desiring them. Violent +political passions have but little hold on those who have devoted +all their faculties to the pursuit of their well-being. The +ardor which they display in small matters calms their zeal for +momentous undertakings. + +From time to time indeed, enterprising and ambitious men +will arise in democratic communities, whose unbounded aspirations +cannot be contented by following the beaten track. Such men like +revolutions and hail their approach; but they have great +difficulty in bringing them about, unless unwonted events come to +their assistance. No man can struggle with advantage against the +spirit of his age and country; and, however powerful he may be +supposed to be, he will find it difficult to make his +contemporaries share in feelings and opinions which are repugnant +to t all their feelings and desires. + +It is a mistake to believe that, when once the equality of +conditions has become the old and uncontested state of society, +and has imparted its characteristics to the manners of a nation, +men will easily allow themselves to be thrust into perilous risks +by an imprudent leader or a bold innovator. Not indeed that they +will resist him openly, by well-contrived schemes, or even by a +premeditated plan of resistance. They will not struggle +energetically against him, sometimes they will even applaud him - +but they do not follow him. To his vehemence they secretly +oppose their inertia; to his revolutionary tendencies their +conservative interests; their homely tastes to his adventurous +passions; their good sense to the flights of his genius; to his +poetry their prose. With immense exertion he raises them for an +instant, but they speedily escape from him, and fall back, as it +were, by their own weight. He strains himself to rouse the +indifferent and distracted multitude, and finds at last that he +is reduced to impotence, not because he is conquered, but because +he is alone. + +I do not assert that men living in democratic communities +are naturally stationary; I think, on the contrary, that a +perpetual stir prevails in the bosom of those societies, and that +rest is unknown there; but I think that men bestir themselves +within certain limits beyond which they hardly ever go. They are +forever varying, altering, and restoring secondary matters; but +they carefully abstain from touching what is fundamental. They +love change, but they dread revolutions. Although the Americans +are constantly modifying or abrogating some of their laws, they +by no means display revolutionary passions. It may be easily +seen, from the promptitude with which they check and calm +themselves when public excitement begins to grow alarming, and at +the very moment when passions seem most roused, that they dread a +revolution as the worst of misfortunes, and that every one of +them is inwardly resolved to make great sacrifices to avoid such +a catastrophe. In no country in the world is the love of +property more active and more anxious than in the United States; +nowhere does the majority display less inclination for those +principles which threaten to alter, in whatever manner, the laws +of property. I have often remarked that theories which are of a +revolutionary nature, since they cannot be put in practice +without a complete and sometimes a sudden change in the state of +property and persons, are much less favorably viewed in the +United States than in the great monarchical countries of Europe: +if some men profess them, the bulk of the people reject them with +instinctive abhorrence. I do not hesitate to say that most of +the maxims commonly called democratic in France would be +proscribed by the democracy of the United States. This may +easily be understood: in America men have the opinions and +passions of democracy, in Europe we have still the passions and +opinions of revolution. If ever America undergoes great +revolutions, they will be brought about by the presence of the +black race on the soil of the United States -that is to say, they +will owe their origin, not to the equality, but to the +inequality, of conditions. + +When social conditions are equal, every man is apt to live +apart, centred in himself and forgetful of the public. If the +rulers of democratic nations were either to neglect to correct +this fatal tendency, or to encourage it from a notion that it +weans men from political passions and thus wards off revolutions, +they might eventually produce the evil they seek to avoid, and a +time might come when the inordinate passions of a few men, aided +by the unintelligent selfishness or the pusillanimity of the +greater number, would ultimately compel society to pass through +strange vicissitudes. In democratic communities revolutions are +seldom desired except by a minority; but a minority may sometimes +effect them. I do not assert that democratic nations are secure +from revolutions; I merely say that the state of society in those +nations does not lead to revolutions, but rather wards them off. +A democratic people left to itself will not easily embark in +great hazards; it is only led to revolutions unawares; it may +sometimes undergo them, but it does not make them; and I will add +that, when such a people has been allowed to acquire sufficient +knowledge and experience, it will not suffer them to be made. I +am well aware that it this respect public institutions may +themselves do much; they may encourage or repress the tendencies +which originate in the state of society. I therefore do not +maintain, I repeat, that a people is secure from revolutions +simply because conditions are equal in the community; but I think +that, whatever the institutions of such a people may be, great +revolutions will always be far less violent and less frequent +than is supposed; and I can easily discern a state of polity, +which, when combined with the principle of equality, would render +society more stationary than it has ever been in our western +apart of the world. + +The observations I have here made on events may also be +applied in part to opinions. Two things are surprising in the +United States - the mutability of the greater part of human +actions, and the singular stability of certain principles. Men +are in constant motion; the mind of man appears almost unmoved. +When once an opinion has spread over the country and struck root +there, it would seem that no power on earth is strong enough to +eradicate it. In the United States, general principles in +religion, philosophy, morality, and even politics, do not vary, +or at least are only modified by a hidden and often an +imperceptible process: even the grossest prejudices are +obliterated with incredible slowness, amidst the continual +friction of men and things. I hear it said that it is in the +nature and the habits of democracies to be constantly changing +their opinions and feelings. This may be true of small +democratic nations, like those of the ancient world, in which the +whole community could be assembled in a public place and then +excited at will by an orator. But I saw nothing of the kind +amongst the great democratic people which dwells upon the +opposite shores of the Atlantic Ocean. What struck me in the +United States was the difficulty in shaking the majority in an +opinion once conceived, or of drawing it off from a leader once +adopted. Neither speaking nor writing can accomplish it; nothing +but experience will avail, and even experience must be repeated. +This is surprising at first sight, but a more attentive +investigation explains the fact. I do not think that it is as +easy as is supposed to uproot the prejudices of a democratic +people - to change its belief - to supersede principles once +established, by new principles in religion, politics, and morals +- in a word, to make great and frequent changes in men's minds. +Not that the human mind is there at rest -it is in constant +agitation; but it is engaged in infinitely varying the +consequences of known principles, and in seeking for new +consequences, rather than in seeking for new principles. Its +motion is one of rapid circumvolution, rather than of +straightforward impulse by rapid and direct effort; it extends +its orbit by small continual and hasty movements, but it does not +suddenly alter its position. + +Men who are equal in rights, in education, in fortune, or, +to comprise all in one word, in their social condition, have +necessarily wants, habits, and tastes which are hardly +dissimilar. As they look at objects under the same aspect, their +minds naturally tend to analogous conclusions; and, though each +of them may deviate from his contemporaries and from opinions of +his own, they will involuntarily and unconsciously concur in a +certain number of received opinions. The more attentively I +consider the effects of equality upon the mind, the more am I +persuaded that the intellectual anarchy which we witness about us +is not, as many men suppose, the natural state of democratic +nations. I think it is rather to be regarded as an accident +peculiar to their youth, and that it only breaks out at that +period of transition when men have already snapped the former +ties which bound them together, but are still amazingly different +in origin, education, and manners; so that, having retained +opinions, propensities and tastes of great diversity, nothing any +longer prevents men from avowing them openly. The leading +opinions of men become similar in proportion as their conditions +assimilate; such appears to me to be the general and permanent +law - the rest is casual and transient. + +I believe that it will rarely happen to any man amongst a +democratic community, suddenly to frame a system of notions very +remote from that which his contemporaries have adopted; and if +some such innovator appeared, I apprehend that he would have +great difficulty in finding listeners, still more in finding +believers. When the conditions of men are almost equal, they do +not easily allow themselves to be persuaded by each other. As +they all live in close intercourse, as they have learned the same +things together, and as they lead the same life, they are not +naturally disposed to take one of themselves for a guide, and to +follow him implicitly. Men seldom take the opinion of their +equal, or of a man like themselves, upon trust. Not only is +confidence in the superior attainments of certain individuals +weakened amongst democratic nations, as I have elsewhere +remarked, but the general notion of the intellectual superiority +which any man whatsoever may acquire in relation to the rest of +the community is soon overshadowed. As men grow more like each +other, the doctrine of the equality of the intellect gradually +infuses itself into their opinions; and it becomes more difficult +for any innovator to acquire or to exert much influence over the +minds of a people. In such communities sudden intellectual +revolutions will therefore be rare; for, if we read aright the +history of the world, we shall find that great and rapid changes +in human opinions have been produced far less by the force of +reasoning than by the authority of a name. Observe, too, that as +the men who live in democratic societies are not connected with +each other by any tie, each of them must be convinced +individually; whilst in aristocratic society it is enough to +convince a few - the rest follow. If Luther had lived in an age +of equality, and had not had princes and potentates for his +audience, he would perhaps have found it more difficult to change +the aspect of Europe. Not indeed that the men of democracies are +naturally strongly persuaded of the certainty of their opinions, +or are unwavering in belief; they frequently entertain doubts +which no one, in their eyes, can remove. It sometimes happens at +such times that the human mind would willingly change its +position; but as nothing urges or guides it forwards, it +oscillates to and fro without progressive motion. *a + +[Footnote a: If I inquire what state of society is most favorable +to the great revolutions of the mind, I find that it occurs +somewhere between the complete equality of the whole community +and the absolute separation of ranks. Under a system of castes +generations succeed each other without altering men's positions; +some have nothing more, others nothing better, to hope for. The +imagination slumbers amidst this universal silence and stillness, +and the very idea of change fades from the human mind. When +ranks have been abolished and social conditions are almost +equalized, all men are in ceaseless excitement, but each of them +stands alone, independent and weak. This latter state of things +is excessively different from the former one; yet it has one +point of analogy - great revolutions of the human mind seldom +occur in it. But between these two extremes of the history of +nations is an intermediate period - a period as glorious as it is +agitated - when the conditions of men are not sufficiently +settled for the mind to be lulled in torpor, when they are +sufficiently unequal for men to exercise a vast power on the +minds of one another, and when some few may modify the +convictions of all. It is at such times that great reformers +start up, and new opinions suddenly change the face of the +world.] + +Even when the reliance of a democratic people has been won, +it is still no easy matter to gain their attention. It is +extremely difficult to obtain a hearing from men living in +democracies, unless it be to speak to them of themselves. They +do not attend to the things said to them, because they are always +fully engrossed with the things they are doing. For indeed few +men are idle in democratic nations; life is passed in the midst +of noise and excitement, and men are so engaged in acting that +little remains to them for thinking. I would especially remark +that they are not only employed, but that they are passionately +devoted to their employments. They are always in action, and +each of their actions absorbs their faculties: the zeal which +they display in business puts out the enthusiasm they might +otherwise entertain for idea. I think that it is extremely +difficult to excite the enthusiasm of a democratic people for any +theory which has not a palpable, direct, and immediate connection +with the daily occupations of life: therefore they will not +easily forsake their old opinions; for it is enthusiasm which +flings the minds of men out of the beaten track, and effects the +great revolutions of the intellect as well as the great +revolutions of the political world. Thus democratic nations have +neither time nor taste to go in search of novel opinions. Even +when those they possess become doubtful, they still retain them, +because it would take too much time and inquiry to change them - +they retain them, not as certain, but as established. + +There are yet other and more cogent reasons which prevent +any great change from being easily effected in the principles of +a democratic people. I have already adverted to them at the +commencement of this part of my work. If the influence of +individuals is weak and hardly perceptible amongst such a people, +the power exercised by the mass upon the mind of each individual +is extremely great - I have already shown for what reasons. I +would now observe that it is wrong to suppose that this depends +solely upon the form of government, and that the majority would +lose its intellectual supremacy if it were to lose its political +power. In aristocracies men have often much greatness and +strength of their own: when they find themselves at variance with +the greater number of their fellow-countrymen, they withdraw to +their own circle, where they support and console themselves. +Such is not the case in a democratic country; there public favor +seems as necessary as the air we breathe, and to live at variance +with the multitude is, as it were, not to live. The multitude +requires no laws to coerce those who think not like itself: +public disapprobation is enough; a sense of their loneliness and +impotence overtakes them and drives them to despair. + +Whenever social conditions are equal, public opinion presses +with enormous weight upon the mind of each individual; it +surrounds, directs, and oppresses him; and this arises from the +very constitution of society, much more than from its political +laws. As men grow more alike, each man feels himself weaker in +regard to all the rest; as he discerns nothing by which he is +considerably raised above them, or distinguished from them, he +mistrusts himself as soon as they assail him. Not only does he +mistrust his strength, but he even doubts of his right; and he is +very near acknowledging that he is in the wrong, when the greater +number of his countrymen assert that he is so. The majority do +not need to constrain him - they convince him. In whatever way +then the powers of a democratic community may be organized and +balanced, it will always be extremely difficult to believe what +the bulk of the people reject, or to profess what they condemn. + +This circumstance is extraordinarily favorable to the +stability of opinions. When an opinion has taken root amongst a +democratic people, and established itself in the minds of the +bulk of the community, it afterwards subsists by itself and is +maintained without effort, because no one attacks it. Those who +at first rejected it as false, ultimately receive it as the +general impression; and those who still dispute it in their +hearts, conceal their dissent; they are careful not to engage in +a dangerous and useless conflict. It is true, that when the +majority of a democratic people change their opinions, they may +suddenly and arbitrarily effect strange revolutions in men's +minds; but their opinions do not change without much difficulty, +and it is almost as difficult to show that they are changed. + +Time, events, or the unaided individual action of the mind, +will sometimes undermine or destroy an opinion, without any +outward sign of the change. It has not been openly assailed, no +conspiracy has been formed to make war on it, but its followers +one by one noiselessly secede - day by day a few of them abandon +it, until last it is only professed by a minority. In this state +it will still continue to prevail. As its enemies remain mute, +or only interchange their thoughts by stealth, they are +themselves unaware for a long period that a great revolution has +actually been effected; and in this state of uncertainly they +take no steps -they observe each other and are silent. The +majority have ceased to believe what they believed before; but +they still affect to believe, and this empty phantom of public +opinion in strong enough to chill innovators, and to keep them +silent and at respectful distance. We live at a time which has +witnessed the most rapid changes of opinion in the minds of men; +nevertheless it may be that the leading opinions of society will +ere long be more settled than they have been for several +centuries in our history: that time is not yet come, but it may +perhaps be approaching. As I examine more closely the natural +wants and tendencies of democratic nations, I grow persuaded that +if ever social equality is generally and permanently established +in the world, great intellectual and political revolutions will +become more difficult and less frequent than is supposed. Because +the men of democracies appear always excited, uncertain, eager, +changeable in their wills and in their positions, it is imagined +that they are suddenly to abrogate their laws, to adopt new +opinions, and to assume new manners. But if the principle of +equality predisposes men to change, it also suggests to them +certain interests and tastes which cannot be satisfied without a +settled order of things; equality urges them on, but at the same +time it holds them back; it spurs them, but fastens them to +earth; - it kindles their desires, but limits their powers. This, +however, is not perceived at first; the passions which tend to +sever the citizens of a democracy are obvious enough; but the +hidden force which restrains and unites them is not discernible +at a glance. + +Amidst the ruins which surround me, shall I dare to say that +revolutions are not what I most fear coming generations? If men +continue to shut themselves more closely within the narrow circle +of domestic interests and to live upon that kind of excitement, +it is to be apprehended that they may ultimately become +inaccessible to those great and powerful public emotions which +perturb nations - but which enlarge them and recruit them. When +property becomes so fluctuating, and the love of property so +restless and so ardent, I cannot but fear that men may arrive at +such a state as to regard every new theory as a peril, every +innovation as an irksome toil, every social improvement as a +stepping-stone to revolution, and so refuse to move altogether +for fear of being moved too far. I dread, and I confess it, lest +they should at last so entirely give way to a cowardly love of +present enjoyment, as to lose sight of the interests of their +future selves and of those of their descendants; and to prefer to +glide along the easy current of life, rather than to make, when +it is necessary, a strong and sudden effort to a higher purpose. +It is believed by some that modern society will be ever changing +its aspect; for myself, I fear that it will ultimately be too +invariably fixed in the same institutions, the same prejudices, +the same manners, so that mankind will be stopped and +circumscribed; that the mind will swing backwards and forwards +forever, without begetting fresh ideas; that man will waste his +strength in bootless and solitary trifling; and, though in +continual motion, that humanity will cease to advance. + +Chapter XXII: Why Democratic Nations Are Naturally Desirous Of +Peace, And Democratic Armies Of War + +The same interests, the same fears, the same passions which +deter democratic nations from revolutions, deter them also from +war; the spirit of military glory and the spirit of revolution +are weakened at the same time and by the same causes. The ever- +increasing numbers of men of property - lovers of peace, the +growth of personal wealth which war so rapidly consumes, the +mildness of manners, the gentleness of heart, those tendencies to +pity which are engendered by the equality of conditions, that +coolness of understanding which renders men comparatively +insensible to the violent and poetical excitement of arms - all +these causes concur to quench the military spirit. I think it may +be admitted as a general and constant rule, that, amongst +civilized nations, the warlike passions will become more rare and +less intense in proportion as social conditions shall be more +equal. War is nevertheless an occurrence to which all nations +are subject, democratic nations as well as others. Whatever +taste they may have for peace, they must hold themselves in +readiness to repel aggression, or in other words they must have +an army. + +Fortune, which has conferred so many peculiar benefits upon +the inhabitants of the United States, has placed them in the +midst of a wilderness, where they have, so to speak, no +neighbors: a few thousand soldiers are sufficient for their +wants; but this is peculiar to America, not to democracy. The +equality of conditions, and the manners as well as the +institutions resulting from it, do not exempt a democratic people +from the necessity of standing armies, and their armies always +exercise a powerful influence over their fate. It is therefore +of singular importance to inquire what are the natural +propensities of the men of whom these armies are composed. + +Amongst aristocratic nations, especially amongst those in +which birth is the only source of rank, the same inequality +exists in the army as in the nation; the officer is noble, the +soldier is a serf; the one is naturally called upon to command, +the other to obey. In aristocratic armies, the private soldier's +ambition is therefore circumscribed within very narrow limits. +Nor has the ambition of the officer an unlimited range. An +aristocratic body not only forms a part of the scale of ranks in +the nation, but it contains a scale of ranks within itself: the +members of whom it is composed are placed one above another, in a +particular and unvarying manner. Thus one man is born to the +command of a regiment, another to that of a company; when once +they have reached the utmost object of their hopes, they stop of +their own accord, and remain contented with their lot. There is, +besides, a strong cause, which, in aristocracies, weakens the +officer's desire of promotion. Amongst aristocratic nations, an +officer, independently of his rank in the army, also occupies an +elevated rank in society; the former is almost always in his eyes +only an appendage to the latter. A nobleman who embraces the +profession of arms follows it less from motives of ambition than +from a sense of the duties imposed on him by his birth. He +enters the army in order to find an honorable employment for the +idle years of his youth, and to be able to bring back to his home +and his peers some honorable recollections of military life; but +his principal object is not to obtain by that profession either +property, distinction, or power, for he possesses these +advantages in his own right, and enjoys them without leaving his +home. + +In democratic armies all the soldiers may become officers, +which makes the desire of promotion general, and immeasurably +extends the bounds of military ambition. The officer, on his +part, sees nothing which naturally and necessarily stops him at +one grade more than at another; and each grade has immense +importance in his eyes, because his rank in society almost always +depends on his rank in the army. Amongst democratic nations it +often happens that an officer has no property but his pay, and no +distinction but that of military honors: consequently as often as +his duties change, his fortune changes, and he becomes, as it +were, a new man. What was only an appendage to his position in +aristocratic armies, has thus become the main point, the basis of +his whole condition. Under the old French monarchy officers were +always called by their titles of nobility; they are now always +called by the title of their military rank. This little change +in the forms of language suffices to show that a great revolution +has taken place in the constitution of society and in that of the +army. In democratic armies the desire of advancement is almost +universal: it is ardent, tenacious, perpetual; it is strengthened +by all other desires, and only extinguished with life itself. But +it is easy to see, that of all armies in the world, those in +which advancement must be slowest in time of peace are the armies +of democratic countries. As the number of commissions is +naturally limited, whilst the number of competitors is almost +unlimited, and as the strict law of equality is over all alike, +none can make rapid progress - many can make no progress at all. +Thus the desire of advancement is greater, and the opportunities +of advancement fewer, there than elsewhere. All the ambitious +spirits of a democratic army are consequently ardently desirous +of war, because war makes vacancies, and warrants the violation +of that law of seniority which is the sole privilege natural to +democracy. + +We thus arrive at this singular consequence, that of all +armies those most ardently desirous of war are democratic armies, +and of all nations those most fond of peace are democratic +nations: and, what makes these facts still more extraordinary, is +that these contrary effects are produced at the same time by the +principle of equality. + +All the members of the community, being alike, constantly +harbor the wish, and discover the possibility, of changing their +condition and improving their welfare: this makes them fond of +peace, which is favorable to industry, and allows every man to +pursue his own little undertakings to their completion. On the +other hand, this same equality makes soldiers dream of fields of +battle, by increasing the value of military honors in the eyes of +those who follow the profession of arms, and by rendering those +honors accessible to all. In either case the inquietude of the +heart is the same, the taste for enjoyment as insatiable, the +ambition of success as great - the means of gratifying it are +alone different. + +These opposite tendencies of the nation and the army expose +democratic communities to great dangers. When a military spirit +forsakes a people, the profession of arms immediately ceases to +be held in honor, and military men fall to the lowest rank of the +public servants: they are little esteemed, and no longer +understood. The reverse of what takes place in aristocratic ages +then occurs; the men who enter the army are no longer those of +the highest, but of the lowest rank. Military ambition is only +indulged in when no other is possible. Hence arises a circle of +cause and consequence from which it is difficult to escape: the +best part of the nation shuns the military profession because +that profession is not honored, and the profession is not honored +because the best part of the nation has ceased to follow it. It +is then no matter of surprise that democratic armies are often +restless, ill-tempered, and dissatisfied with their lot, although +their physical condition is commonly far better, and their +discipline less strict than in other countries. The soldier +feels that he occupies an inferior position, and his wounded +pride either stimulates his taste for hostilities which would +render his services necessary, or gives him a turn for +revolutions, during which he may hope to win by force of arms the +political influence and personal importance now denied him. The +composition of democratic armies makes this last-mentioned danger +much to be feared. In democratic communities almost every man +has some property to preserve; but democratic armies are +generally led by men without property, most of whom have little +to lose in civil broils. The bulk of the nation is naturally +much more afraid of revolutions than in the ages of aristocracy, +but the leaders of the army much less so. + +Moreover, as amongst democratic nations (to repeat what I +have just remarked) the wealthiest, the best educated, and the +most able men seldom adopt the military profession, the army, +taken collectively, eventually forms a small nation by itself, +where the mind is less enlarged, and habits are more rude than in +the nation at large. Now, this small uncivilized nation has arms +in its possession, and alone knows how to use them: for, indeed, +the pacific temper of the community increases the danger to which +a democratic people is exposed from the military and turbulent +spirit of the army. Nothing is so dangerous as an army amidst an +unwarlike nation; the excessive love of the whole community for +quiet continually puts its constitution at the mercy of the +soldiery. It may therefore be asserted, generally speaking, that +if democratic nations are naturally prone to peace from their +interests and their propensities, they are constantly drawn to +war and revolutions by their armies. Military revolutions, which +are scarcely ever to be apprehended in aristocracies, are always +to be dreaded amongst democratic nations. These perils must be +reckoned amongst the most formidable which beset their future +fate, and the attention of statesmen should be sedulously applied +to find a remedy for the evil. + +When a nation perceives that it is inwardly affected by the +restless ambition of its army, the first thought which occurs is +to give this inconvenient ambition an object by going to war. I +speak no ill of war: war almost always enlarges the mind of a +people, and raises their character. In some cases it is the only +check to the excessive growth of certain propensities which +naturally spring out of the equality of conditions, and it must +be considered as a necessary corrective to certain inveterate +diseases to which democratic communities are liable. War has +great advantages, but we must not flatter ourselves that it can +diminish the danger I have just pointed out. That peril is only +suspended by it, to return more fiercely when the war is over; +for armies are much more impatient of peace after having tasted +military exploits. War could only be a remedy for a people which +should always be athirst for military glory. I foresee that all +the military rulers who may rise up in great democratic nations, +will find it easier to conquer with their armies, than to make +their armies live at peace after conquest. There are two things +which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to +begin a war, and to end it. + +Again, if war has some peculiar advantages for democratic +nations, on the other hand it exposes them to certain dangers +which aristocracies have no cause to dread to an equal extent. I +shall only point out two of these. Although war gratifies the +army, it embarrasses and often exasperates that countless +multitude of men whose minor passions every day require peace in +order to be satisfied. Thus there is some risk of its causing, +under another form, the disturbance it is intended to prevent. +No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a +democratic country. Not indeed that after every victory it is to +be apprehended that the victorious generals will possess +themselves by force of the supreme power, after the manner of +Sylla and Caesar: the danger is of another kind. War does not +always give over democratic communities to military government, +but it must invariably and immeasurably increase the powers of +civil government; it must almost compulsorily concentrate the +direction of all men and the management of all things in the +hands of the administration. If it lead not to despotism by +sudden violence, it prepares men for it more gently by their +habits. All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a +democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and the +shortest means to accomplish it. This is the first axiom of the +science. + +One remedy, which appears to be obvious when the ambition of +soldiers and officers becomes the subject of alarm, is to augment +the number of commissions to be distributed by increasing the +army. This affords temporary relief, but it plunges the country +into deeper difficulties at some future period. To increase the +army may produce a lasting effect in an aristocratic community, +because military ambition is there confined to one class of men, +and the ambition of each individual stops, as it were, at a +certain limit; so that it may be possible to satisfy all who feel +its influence. But nothing is gained by increasing the army +amongst a democratic people, because the number of aspirants +always rises in exactly the same ratio as the army itself. Those +whose claims have been satisfied by the creation of new +commissions are instantly succeeded by a fresh multitude beyond +all power of satisfaction; and even those who were but now +satisfied soon begin to crave more advancement; for the same +excitement prevails in the ranks of the army as in the civil +classes of democratic society, and what men want is not to reach +a certain grade, but to have constant promotion. Though these +wants may not be very vast, they are perpetually recurring. Thus +a democratic nation, by augmenting its army, only allays for a +time the ambition of the military profession, which soon becomes +even more formidable, because the number of those who feel it is +increased. I am of opinion that a restless and turbulent spirit +is an evil inherent in the very constitution of democratic +armies, and beyond hope of cure. The legislators of democracies +must not expect to devise any military organization capable by +its influence of calming and restraining the military profession: +their efforts would exhaust their powers, before the object is +attained. + +The remedy for the vices of the army is not to be found in +the army itself, but in the country. Democratic nations are +naturally afraid of disturbance and of despotism; the object is +to turn these natural instincts into well-digested, deliberate, +and lasting tastes. When men have at last learned to make a +peaceful and profitable use of freedom, and have felt its +blessings - when they have conceived a manly love of order, and +have freely submitted themselves to discipline - these same men, +if they follow the profession of arms, bring into it, +unconsciously and almost against their will, these same habits +and manners. The general spirit of the nation being infused into +the spirit peculiar to the army, tempers the opinions and desires +engendered by military life, or represses them by the mighty +force of public opinion. Teach but the citizens to be educated, +orderly, firm, and free, the soldiers will be disciplined and +obedient. Any law which, in repressing the turbulent spirit of +the army, should tend to diminish the spirit of freedom in the +nation, and to overshadow the notion of law and right, would +defeat its object: it would do much more to favor, than to +defeat, the establishment of military tyranny. + +After all, and in spite of all precautions, a large army +amidst a democratic people will always be a source of great +danger; the most effectual means of diminishing that danger would +be to reduce the army, but this is a remedy which all nations +have it not in their power to use. + + +Book Three - Chapters XXIII-XVI + +Chapter XXIII: Which Is The Most Warlike And Most Revolutionary +Class In Democratic Armies? + +It is a part of the essence of a democratic army to be very +numerous in proportion to the people to which it belongs, as I +shall hereafter show. On the other hand, men living in +democratic times seldom choose a military life. Democratic +nations are therefore soon led to give up the system of voluntary +recruiting for that of compulsory enlistment. The necessity of +their social condition compels them to resort to the latter +means, and it may easily be foreseen that they will all +eventually adopt it. When military service is compulsory, the +burden is indiscriminately and equally borne by the whole +community. This is another necessary consequence of the social +condition of these nations, and of their notions. The government +may do almost whatever it pleases, provided it appeals to the +whole community at once: it is the unequal distribution of the +weight, not the weight itself, which commonly occasions +resistance. But as military service is common to all the +citizens, the evident consequence is that each of them remains +but for a few years on active duty. Thus it is in the nature of +things that the soldier in democracies only passes through the +army, whilst among most aristocratic nations the military +profession is one which the soldier adopts, or which is imposed +upon him, for life. + +This has important consequences. Amongst the soldiers of a +democratic army, some acquire a taste for military life, but the +majority, being enlisted against their will, and ever ready to go +back to their homes, do not consider themselves as seriously +engaged in the military profession, and are always thinking of +quitting it. Such men do not contract the wants, and only half +partake in the passions, which that mode of life engenders. They +adapt themselves to their military duties, but their minds are +still attached to the interests and the duties which engaged them +in civil life. They do not therefore imbibe the spirit of the +army - or rather, they infuse the spirit of the community at +large into the army, and retain it there. Amongst democratic +nations the private soldiers remain most like civilians: upon +them the habits of the nation have the firmest hold, and public +opinion most influence. It is by the instrumentality of the +private soldiers especially that it may be possible to infuse +into a democratic army the love of freedom and the respect of +rights, if these principles have once been successfully +inculcated on the people at large. The reverse happens amongst +aristocratic nations, where the soldiery have eventually nothing +in common with their fellow-citizens, and where they live amongst +them as strangers, and often as enemies. In aristocratic armies +the officers are the conservative element, because the officers +alone have retained a strict connection with civil society, and +never forego their purpose of resuming their place in it sooner +or later: in democratic armies the private soldiers stand in this +position, and from the same cause. + +It often happens, on the contrary, that in these same +democratic armies the officers contract tastes and wants wholly +distinct from those of the nation - a fact which may be thus +accounted for. Amongst democratic nations, the man who becomes +an officer severs all the ties which bound him to civil life; he +leaves it forever; he has no interest to resume it. His true +country is the army, since he owes all he has to the rank he has +attained in it; he therefore follows the fortunes of the army, +rises or sinks with it, and henceforward directs all his hopes to +that quarter only. As the wants of an officer are distinct from +those of the country, he may perhaps ardently desire war, or +labor to bring about a revolution at the very moment when the +nation is most desirous of stability and peace. There are, +nevertheless, some causes which allay this restless and warlike +spirit. Though ambition is universal and continual amongst +democratic nations, we have seen that it is seldom great. A man +who, being born in the lower classes of the community, has risen +from the ranks to be an officer, has already taken a prodigious +step. He has gained a footing in a sphere above that which he +filled in civil life, and he has acquired rights which most +democratic nations will ever consider as inalienable. *a He is +willing to pause after so great an effort, and to enjoy what he +has won. The fear of risking what he has already obtained damps +the desire of acquiring what he has not got. Having conquered the +first and greatest impediment which opposed his advancement, he +resigns himself with less impatience to the slowness of his +progress. His ambition will be more and more cooled in +proportion as the increasing distinction of his rank teaches him +that he has more to put in jeopardy. If I am not mistaken, the +least warlike, and also the least revolutionary part, of a +democratic army, will always be its chief commanders. +[Footnote a: The position of officers is indeed much more secure +amongst democratic nations than elsewhere; the lower the personal +standing of the man, the greater is the comparative importance of +his military grade, and the more just and necessary is it that +the enjoyment of that rank should be secured by the laws.] + +But the remarks I have just made on officers and soldiers +are not applicable to a numerous class which in all armies fills +the intermediate space between them - I mean the class of non- +commissioned officers. This class of non-commissioned officers +which have never acted a part in history until the present +century, is henceforward destined, I think, to play one of some +importance. Like the officers, non-commissioned officers have +broken, in their minds, all the ties which bound them to civil +life; like the former, they devote themselves permanently to the +service, and perhaps make it even more exclusively the object of +all their desires: but non-commissioned officers are men who have +not yet reached a firm and lofty post at which they may pause and +breathe more freely, ere they can attain further promotion. By +the very nature of his duties, which is invariable, a +non-commissioned officer is doomed to lead an obscure, confined, +comfortless, and precarious existence; as yet he sees nothing of +military life but its dangers; he knows nothing but its +privations and its discipline - more difficult to support than +dangers: he suffers the more from his present miseries, from +knowing that the constitution of society and of the army allow +him to rise above them; he may, indeed, at any time obtain his +commission, and enter at once upon command, honors, independence, +rights, and enjoyments. Not only does this object of his hopes +appear to him of immense importance, but he is never sure of +reaching it till it is actually his own; the grade he fills is by +no means irrevocable; he is always entirely abandoned to the +arbitrary pleasure of his commanding officer, for this is +imperiously required by the necessity of discipline: a slight +fault, a whim, may always deprive him in an instant of the fruits +of many years of toil and endeavor; until he has reached the +grade to which he aspires he has accomplished nothing; not till +he reaches that grade does his career seem to begin. A desperate +ambition cannot fail to be kindled in a man thus incessantly +goaded on by his youth, his wants, his passions, the spirit of +his age, his hopes, and his age, his hopes, and his fears. +Non-commissioned officers are therefore bent on war - on war +always, and at any cost; but if war be denied them, then they +desire revolutions to suspend the authority of established +regulations, and to enable them, aided by the general confusion +and the political passions of the time, to get rid of their +superior officers and to take their places. Nor is it impossible +for them to bring about such a crisis, because their common +origin and habits give them much influence over the soldiers, +however different may be their passions and their desires. + +It would be an error to suppose that these various +characteristics of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, +belong to any particular time or country; they will always occur +at all times, and amongst all democratic nations. In every +democratic army the non-commissioned officers will be the worst +representatives of the pacific and orderly spirit of the country, +and the private soldiers will be the best. The latter will carry +with them into military life the strength or weakness of the +manners of the nation; they will display a faithful reflection of +the community: if that community is ignorant and weak, they will +allow themselves to be drawn by their leaders into disturbances, +either unconsciously or against their will; if it is enlightened +and energetic, the community will itself keep them within the +bounds of order. + +Chapter XXIV: Causes Which Render Democratic Armies Weaker Than +Other Armies At The Outset Of A Campaign, And More Formidable In +Protracted Warfare + +Any army is in danger of being conquered at the outset of a +campaign, after a long peace; any army which has long been +engaged in warfare has strong chances of victory: this truth is +peculiarly applicable to democratic armies. In aristocracies the +military profession, being a privileged career, is held in honor +even in time of peace. Men of great talents, great attainments, +and great ambition embrace it; the army is in all respects on a +level with the nation, and frequently above it. We have seen, on +the contrary, that amongst a democratic people the choicer minds +of the nation are gradually drawn away from the military +profession, to seek by other paths, distinction, power, and +especially wealth. After a long peace - and in democratic ages +the periods of peace are long - the army is always inferior to +the country itself. In this state it is called into active +service; and until war has altered it, there is danger for the +country as well as for the army. + +I have shown that in democratic armies, and in time of +peace, the rule of seniority is the supreme and inflexible law of +advancement. This is not only a consequence, as I have before +observed, of the constitution of these armies, but of the +constitution of the people, and it will always occur. Again, as +amongst these nations the officer derives his position in the +country solely from his position in the army, and as he draws all +the distinction and the competency he enjoys from the same +source, he does not retire from his profession, or is not +super-annuated, till towards the extreme close of life. The +consequence of these two causes is, that when a democratic people +goes to war after a long interval of peace all the leading +officers of the army are old men. I speak not only of the +generals, but of the non-commissioned officers, who have most of +them been stationary, or have only advanced step by step. It may +be remarked with surprise, that in a democratic army after a long +peace all the soldiers are mere boys, and all the superior +officers in declining years; so that the former are wanting in +experience, the latter in vigor. This is a strong element of +defeat, for the first condition of successful generalship is +youth: I should not have ventured to say so if the greatest +captain of modern times had not made the observation. +These two causes do not act in the same manner upon +aristocratic armies: as men are promoted in them by right of +birth much more than by right of seniority, there are in all +ranks a certain number of young men, who bring to their +profession all the early vigor of body and mind. Again, as the +men who seek for military honors amongst an aristocratic people, +enjoy a settled position in civil society, they seldom continue +in the army until old age overtakes them. After having devoted +the most vigorous years of youth to the career of arms, they +voluntarily retire, and spend at home the remainder of their +maturer years. + +A long peace not only fills democratic armies with elderly +officers, but it also gives to all the officers habits both of +body and mind which render them unfit for actual service. The +man who has long lived amidst the calm and lukewarm atmosphere of +democratic manners can at first ill adapt himself to the harder +toils and sterner duties of warfare; and if he has not absolutely +lost the taste for arms, at least he has assumed a mode of life +which unfits him for conquest. + +Amongst aristocratic nations, the ease of civil life +exercises less influence on the manners of the army, because +amongst those nations the aristocracy commands the army: and an +aristocracy, however plunged in luxurious pleasures, has always +many other passions besides that of its own well-being, and to +satisfy those passions more thoroughly its well-being will be +readily sacrificed. *a + +[Footnote a: See Appendix V.] + +I have shown that in democratic armies, in time of peace, +promotion is extremely slow. The officers at first support this +state of things with impatience, they grow excited, restless, +exasperated, but in the end most of them make up their minds to +it. Those who have the largest share of ambition and of +resources quit the army; others, adapting their tastes and their +desires to their scanty fortunes, ultimately look upon the +military profession in a civil point of view. The quality they +value most in it is the competency and security which attend it: +their whole notion of the future rests upon the certainty of this +little provision, and all they require is peaceably to enjoy it. +Thus not only does a long peace fill an army with old men, but it +is frequently imparts the views of old men to those who are still +in the prime of life. + +I have also shown that amongst democratic nations in time of +peace the military profession is held in little honor and +indifferently followed. This want of public favor is a heavy +discouragement to the army; it weighs down the minds of the +troops, and when war breaks out at last, they cannot immediately +resume their spring and vigor. No similar cause of moral +weakness occurs in aristocratic armies: there the officers are +never lowered either in their own eyes or in those of their +countrymen, because, independently of their military greatness, +they are personally great. But even if the influence of peace +operated on the two kinds of armies in the same manner, the +results would still be different. When the officers of an +aristocratic army have lost their warlike spirit and the desire +of raising themselves by service, they still retain a certain +respect for the honor of their class, and an old habit of being +foremost to set an example. But when the officers of a +democratic army have no longer the love of war and the ambition +of arms, nothing whatever remains to them. + +I am therefore of opinion that, when a democratic people +engages in a war after a long peace, it incurs much more risk of +defeat than any other nation; but it ought not easily to be cast +down by its reverses, for the chances of success for such an army +are increased by the duration of the war. When a war has at +length, by its long continuance, roused the whole community from +their peaceful occupations and ruined their minor undertakings, +the same passions which made them attach so much importance to +the maintenance of peace will be turned to arms. War, after it +has destroyed all modes of speculation, becomes itself the great +and sole speculation, to which all the ardent and ambitious +desires which equality engenders are exclusively directed. Hence +it is that the selfsame democratic nations which are so reluctant +to engage in hostilities, sometimes perform prodigious +achievements when once they have taken the field. As the war +attracts more and more of public attention, and is seen to create +high reputations and great fortunes in a short space of time, the +choicest spirits of the nation enter the military profession: all +the enterprising, proud, and martial minds, no longer of the +aristocracy solely, but of the whole country, are drawn in this +direction. As the number of competitors for military honors is +immense, and war drives every man to his proper level, great +generals are always sure to spring up. A long war produces upon +a democratic army the same effects that a revolution produces +upon a people; it breaks through regulations, and allows +extraordinary men to rise above the common level. Those officers +whose bodies and minds have grown old in peace, are removed, or +superannuated, or they die. In their stead a host of young men +are pressing on, whose frames are already hardened, whose desires +are extended and inflamed by active service. They are bent on +advancement at all hazards, and perpetual advancement; they are +followed by others with the same passions and desires, and after +these are others yet unlimited by aught but the size of the army. +The principle of equality opens the door of ambition to all, and +death provides chances for ambition. Death is constantly +thinning the ranks, making vacancies, closing and opening the +career of arms. + +There is moreover a secret connection between the military +character and the character of democracies, which war brings to +light. The men of democracies are naturally passionately eager +to acquire what they covet, and to enjoy it on easy conditions. +They for the most part worship chance, and are much less afraid +of death than of difficulty. This is the spirit which they bring +to commerce and manufactures; and this same spirit, carried with +them to the field of battle, induces them willingly to expose +their lives in order to secure in a moment the rewards of +victory. No kind of greatness is more pleasing to the +imagination of a democratic people than military greatness - a +greatness of vivid and sudden lustre, obtained without toil, by +nothing but the risk of life. Thus, whilst the interests and the +tastes of the members of a democratic community divert them from +war, their habits of mind fit them for carrying on war well; they +soon make good soldiers, when they are roused from their business +and their enjoyments. If peace is peculiarly hurtful to +democratic armies, war secures to them advantages which no other +armies ever possess; and these advantages, however little felt at +first, cannot fail in the end to give them the victory. An +aristocratic nation, which in a contest with a democratic people +does not succeed in ruining the latter at the outset of the war, +always runs a great risk of being conquered by it. + +Chapter XXV: Of Discipline In Democratic Armies + +It is a very general opinion, especially in aristocratic +countries, that the great social equality which prevails in +democracies ultimately renders the private soldier independent of +the officer, and thus destroys the bond of discipline. This is a +mistake, for there are two kinds of discipline, which it is +important not to confound. When the officer is noble and the +soldier a serf - one rich, the other poor - the former educated +and strong, the latter ignorant and weak - the strictest bond of +obedience may easily be established between the two men. The +soldier is broken in to military discipline, as it were, before +he enters the army; or rather, military discipline is nothing but +an enhancement of social servitude. In aristocratic armies the +soldier will soon become insensible to everything but the orders +of his superior officers; he acts without reflection, triumphs +without enthusiasm, and dies without complaint: in this state he +is no longer a man, but he is still a most formidable animal +trained for war. + +A democratic people must despair of ever obtaining from +soldiers that blind, minute, submissive, and invariable obedience +which an aristocratic people may impose on them without +difficulty. The state of society does not prepare them for it, +and the nation might be in danger of losing its natural +advantages if it sought artificially to acquire advantages of +this particular kind. Amongst democratic communities, military +discipline ought not to attempt to annihilate the free spring of +the faculties; all that can be done by discipline is to direct +it; the obedience thus inculcated is less exact, but it is more +eager and more intelligent. It has its root in the will of him +who obeys: it rests not only on his instinct, but on his reason; +and consequently it will often spontaneously become more strict +as danger requires it. The discipline of an aristocratic army is +apt to be relaxed in war, because that discipline is founded upon +habits, and war disturbs those habits. The discipline of a +democratic army on the contrary is strengthened in sight of the +enemy, because every soldier then clearly perceives that he must +be silent and obedient in order to conquer. + +The nations which have performed the greatest warlike +achievements knew no other discipline than that which I speak of. +Amongst the ancients none were admitted into the armies but +freemen and citizens, who differed but little from one another, +and were accustomed to treat each other as equals. In this +respect it may be said that the armies of antiquity were +democratic, although they came out of the bosom of aristocracy; +the consequence was that in those armies a sort of fraternal +familiarity prevailed between the officers and the men. +Plutarch's lives of great commanders furnish convincing instances +of the fact: the soldiers were in the constant habit of freely +addressing their general, and the general listened to and +answered whatever the soldiers had to say: they were kept in +order by language and by example, far more than by constraint or +punishment; the general was as much their companion as their +chief. I know not whether the soldiers of Greece and Rome ever +carried the minutiae of military discipline to the same degree of +perfection as the Russians have done; but this did not prevent +Alexander from conquering Asia - and Rome, the world. + +Chapter XXVI: Some Considerations On War In Democratic +Communities + +When the principle of equality is in growth, not only +amongst a single nation, but amongst several neighboring nations +at the same time, as is now the case in Europe, the inhabitants +of these different countries, notwithstanding the dissimilarity +of language, of customs, and of laws, nevertheless resemble each +other in their equal dread of war and their common love of peace. +*a It is in vain that ambition or anger puts arms in the hands of +princes; they are appeased in spite of themselves by a species of +general apathy and goodwill, which makes the sword drop from +their grasp, and wars become more rare. As the spread of +equality, taking place in several countries at once, +simultaneously impels their various inhabitants to follow +manufactures and commerce, not only do their tastes grow alike, +but their interests are so mixed and entangled with one another +that no nation can inflict evils on other nations without those +evils falling back upon itself; and all nations ultimately regard +war as a calamity, almost as severe to the conqueror as to the +conquered. Thus, on the one hand, it is extremely difficult in +democratic ages to draw nations into hostilities; but on the +other hand, it is almost impossible that any two of them should +go to war without embroiling the rest. The interests of all are +so interlaced, their opinions and their wants so much alike, that +none can remain quiet when the others stir. Wars therefore +become more rare, but when they break out they spread over a +larger field. Neighboring democratic nations not only become +alike in some respects, but they eventually grow to resemble each +other in almost all. *b This similitude of nations has +consequences of great importance in relation to war. + +[Footnote a: It is scarcely necessary for me to observe that the +dread of war displayed by the nations of Europe is not solely +attributable to the progress made by the principle of equality +amongst them; independently of this permanent cause several other +accidental causes of great weight might be pointed out, and I may +mention before all the rest the extreme lassitude which the wars +of the Revolution and the Empire have left behind them.] + +[Footnote b: This is not only because these nations have the same +social condition, but it arises from the very nature of that +social condition which leads men to imitate and identify +themselves with each other. When the members of a community are +divided into castes and classes, they not only differ from one +another, but they have no taste and no desire to be alike; on the +contrary, everyone endeavors, more and more, to keep his own +opinions undisturbed, to retain his own peculiar habits, and to +remain himself. The characteristics of individuals are very +strongly marked. When the state of society amongst a people is +democratic - that is to say, when there are no longer any castes +or classes in the community, and all its members are nearly equal +in education and in property - the human mind follows the +opposite direction. Men are much alike, and they are annoyed, as +it were, by any deviation from that likeness: far from seeking to +preserve their own distinguishing singularities, they endeavor to +shake them off, in order to identify themselves with the general +mass of the people, which is the sole representative of right and +of might to their eyes. The characteristics of individuals are +nearly obliterated. In the ages of aristocracy even those who +are naturally alike strive to create imaginary differences +between themselves: in the ages of democracy even those who are +not alike seek only to become so, and to copy each other - so +strongly is the mind of every man always carried away by the +general impulse of mankind. Something of the same kind may be +observed between nations: two nations having the same +aristocratic social condition, might remain thoroughly distinct +and extremely different, because the spirit of aristocracy is to +retain strong individual characteristics; but if two neighboring +nations have the same democratic social condition, they cannot +fail to adopt similar opinions and manners, because the spirit of +democracy tends to assimilate men to each other.] + +If I inquire why it is that the Helvetic Confederacy made +the greatest and most powerful nations of Europe tremble in the +fifteenth century, whilst at the present day the power of that +country is exactly proportioned to its population, I perceive +that the Swiss are become like all the surrounding communities, +and those surrounding communities like the Swiss: so that as +numerical strength now forms the only difference between them, +victory necessarily attends the largest army. Thus one of the +consequences of the democratic revolution which is going on in +Europe is to make numerical strength preponderate on all fields +of battle, and to constrain all small nations to incorporate +themselves with large States, or at least to adopt the policy of +the latter. As numbers are the determining cause of victory, +each people ought of course to strive by all the means in its +power to bring the greatest possible number of men into the +field. When it was possible to enlist a kind of troops superior +to all others, such as the Swiss infantry or the French horse of +the sixteenth century, it was not thought necessary to raise very +large armies; but the case is altered when one soldier is as +efficient as another. + +The same cause which begets this new want also supplies +means of satisfying it; for, as I have already observed, when men +are all alike, they are all weak, and the supreme power of the +State is naturally much stronger amongst democratic nations than +elsewhere. Hence, whilst these nations are desirous of enrolling +the whole male population in the ranks of the army, they have the +power of effecting this object: the consequence is, that in +democratic ages armies seem to grow larger in proportion as the +love of war declines. In the same ages, too, the manner of +carrying on war is likewise altered by the same causes. +Machiavelli observes in "The Prince," "that it is much more +difficult to subdue a people which has a prince and his barons +for its leaders, than a nation which is commanded by a prince and +his slaves." To avoid offence, let us read public functionaries +for slaves, and this important truth will be strictly applicable +to our own time. + +A great aristocratic people cannot either conquer its +neighbors, or be conquered by them, without great difficulty. It +cannot conquer them, because all its forces can never be +collected and held together for a considerable period: it cannot +be conquered, because an enemy meets at every step small centres +of resistance by which invasion is arrested. War against an +aristocracy may be compared to war in a mountainous country; the +defeated party has constant opportunities of rallying its forces +to make a stand in a new position. Exactly the reverse occurs +amongst democratic nations: they easily bring their whole +disposable force into the field, and when the nation is wealthy +and populous it soon becomes victorious; but if ever it is +conquered, and its territory invaded, it has few resources at +command; and if the enemy takes the capital, the nation is lost. +This may very well be explained: as each member of the community +is individually isolated and extremely powerless, no one of the +whole body can either defend himself or present a rallying point +to others. Nothing is strong in a democratic country except the +State; as the military strength of the State is destroyed by the +destruction of the army, and its civil power paralyzed by the +capture of the chief city, all that remains is only a multitude +without strength or government, unable to resist the organized +power by which it is assailed. I am aware that this danger may be +lessened by the creation of provincial liberties, and +consequently of provincial powers, but this remedy will always be +insufficient. For after such a catastrophe, not only is the +population unable to carry on hostilities, but it may be +apprehended that they will not be inclined to attempt it. +In accordance with the law of nations adopted in civilized +countries, the object of wars is not to seize the property of +private individuals, but simply to get possession of political +power. The destruction of private property is only occasionally +resorted to for the purpose of attaining the latter object. When +an aristocratic country is invaded after the defeat of its army, +the nobles, although they are at the same time the wealthiest +members of the community, will continue to defend themselves +individually rather than submit; for if the conqueror remained +master of the country, he would deprive them of their political +power, to which they cling even more closely than to their +property. They therefore prefer fighting to subjection, which is +to them the greatest of all misfortunes; and they readily carry +the people along with them because the people has long been used +to follow and obey them, and besides has but little to risk in +the war. Amongst a nation in which equality of conditions +prevails, each citizen, on the contrary, has but slender share of +political power, and often has no share at all; on the other +hand, all are independent, and all have something to lose; so +that they are much less afraid of being conquered, and much more +afraid of war, than an aristocratic people. It will always be +extremely difficult to decide a democratic population to take up +arms, when hostilities have reached its own territory. Hence the +necessity of giving to such a people the rights and the political +character which may impart to every citizen some of those +interests that cause the nobles to act for the public welfare in +aristocratic countries. + +It should never be forgotten by the princes and other +leaders of democratic nations, that nothing but the passion and +the habit of freedom can maintain an advantageous contest with +the passion and the habit of physical well-being. I can conceive +nothing better prepared for subjection, in case of defeat, than a +democratic people without free institutions. + +Formerly it was customary to take the field with a small +body of troops, to fight in small engagements, and to make long, +regular sieges: modern tactics consist in fighting decisive +battles, and, as soon as a line of march is open before the army, +in rushing upon the capital city, in order to terminate the war +at a single blow. Napoleon, it is said, was the inventor of this +new system; but the invention of such a system did not depend on +any individual man, whoever he might be. The mode in which +Napoleon carried on war was suggested to him by the state of +society in his time; that mode was successful, because it was +eminently adapted to that state of society, and because he was +the first to employ it. Napoleon was the first commander who +marched at the head of an army from capital to capital, but the +road was opened for him by the ruin of feudal society. It may +fairly be believed that, if that extraordinary man had been born +three hundred years ago, he would not have derived the same +results from his method of warfare, or, rather, that he would +have had a different method. + +I shall add but a few words on civil wars, for fear of +exhausting the patience of the reader. Most of the remarks which +I have made respecting foreign wars are applicable a fortiori to +civil wars. Men living in democracies are not naturally prone to +the military character; they sometimes assume it, when they have +been dragged by compulsion to the field; but to rise in a body +and voluntarily to expose themselves to the horrors of war, and +especially of civil war, is a course which the men of democracies +are not apt to adopt. None but the most adventurous members of +the community consent to run into such risks; the bulk of the +population remains motionless. But even if the population were +inclined to act, considerable obstacles would stand in their way; +for they can resort to no old and well-established influence +which they are willing to obey - no well-known leaders to rally +the discontented, as well as to discipline and to lead them - no +political powers subordinate to the supreme power of the nation, +which afford an effectual support to the resistance directed +against the government. In democratic countries the moral power +of the majority is immense, and the physical resources which it +has at its command are out of all proportion to the physical +resources which may be combined against it. Therefore the party +which occupies the seat of the majority, which speaks in its name +and wields its power, triumphs instantaneously and irresistibly +over all private resistance; it does not even give such +opposition time to exist, but nips it in the bud. Those who in +such nations seek to effect a revolution by force of arms have no +other resource than suddenly to seize upon the whole engine of +government as it stands, which can better be done by a single +blow than by a war; for as soon as there is a regular war, the +party which represents the State is always certain to conquer. +The only case in which a civil war could arise is, if the army +should divide itself into two factions, the one raising the +standard of rebellion, the other remaining true to its +allegiance. An army constitutes a small community, very closely +united together, endowed with great powers of vitality, and able +to supply its own wants for some time. Such a war might be +bloody, but it could not be long; for either the rebellious army +would gain over the government by the sole display of its +resources, or by its first victory, and then the war would be +over; or the struggle would take place, and then that portion of +the army which should not be supported by the organized powers of +the State would speedily either disband itself or be destroyed. +It may therefore be admitted as a general truth, that in ages of +equality civil wars will become much less frequent and less +protracted. *c + +[Footnote c: It should be borne in mind that I speak here of +sovereign and independent democratic nations, not of confederate +democracies; in confederacies, as the preponderating power always +resides, in spite of all political fictions, in the state +governments, and not in the federal government, civil wars are in +fact nothing but foreign wars in disguise.] + + +Book Four - Chapters I-IV + +Influence Of Democratic Opinions On Political Society + +Chapter I: That Equality Naturally Gives Men A Taste For Free +Institutions + +I should imperfectly fulfil the purpose of this book, if, +after having shown what opinions and sentiments are suggested by +the principle of equality, I did not point out, ere I conclude, +the general influence which these same opinions and sentiments +may exercise upon the government of human societies. To succeed +in this object I shall frequently have to retrace my steps; but I +trust the reader will not refuse to follow me through paths +already known to him, which may lead to some new truth. + +The principle of equality, which makes men independent of +each other, gives them a habit and a taste for following, in +their private actions, no other guide but their own will. This +complete independence, which they constantly enjoy towards their +equals and in the intercourse of private life, tends to make them +look upon all authority with a jealous eye, and speedily suggests +to them the notion and the love of political freedom. Men living +at such times have a natural bias to free institutions. Take any +one of them at a venture, and search if you can his most +deep-seated instincts; you will find that of all governments he +will soonest conceive and most highly value that government, +whose head he has himself elected, and whose administration he +may control. Of all the political effects produced by the +equality of conditions, this love of independence is the first to +strike the observing, and to alarm the timid; nor can it be said +that their alarm is wholly misplaced, for anarchy has a more +formidable aspect in democratic countries than elsewhere. As the +citizens have no direct influence on each other, as soon as the +supreme power of the nation fails, which kept them all in their +several stations, it would seem that disorder must instantly +reach its utmost pitch, and that, every man drawing aside in a +different direction, the fabric of society must at once crumble +away. + +I am, however, persuaded that anarchy is not the principal +evil which democratic ages have to fear, but the least. For the +principle of equality begets two tendencies; the one leads men +straight to independence, and may suddenly drive them into +anarchy; the other conducts them by a longer, more secret, but +more certain road, to servitude. Nations readily discern the +former tendency, and are prepared to resist it; they are led away +by the latter, without perceiving its drift; hence it is +peculiarly important to point it out. For myself, I am so far +from urging as a reproach to the principle of equality that it +renders men untractable, that this very circumstance principally +calls forth my approbation. I admire to see how it deposits in +the mind and heart of man the dim conception and instinctive love +of political independence, thus preparing the remedy for the evil +which it engenders; it is on this very account that I am attached +to it. + +Chapter II: That The Notions Of Democratic Nations On Government +Are Naturally Favorable To The Concentration Of Power + +The notion of secondary powers, placed between the sovereign +and his subjects, occurred naturally to the imagination of +aristocratic nations, because those communities contained +individuals or families raised above the common level, and +apparently destined to command by their birth, their education, +and their wealth. This same notion is naturally wanting in the +minds of men in democratic ages, for converse reasons: it can +only be introduced artificially, it can only be kept there with +difficulty; whereas they conceive, as it were, without thinking +upon the subject, the notion of a sole and central power which +governs the whole community by its direct influence. Moreover in +politics, as well as in philosophy and in religion, the intellect +of democratic nations is peculiarly open to simple and general +notions. Complicated systems are repugnant to it, and its +favorite conception is that of a great nation composed of +citizens all resembling the same pattern, and all governed by a +single power. + +The very next notion to that of a sole and central power, which +presents itself to the minds of men in the ages of +equality, is the notion of uniformity of legislation. As every +man sees that he differs but little from those about him, he +cannot understand why a rule which is applicable to one man +should not be equally applicable to all others. Hence the +slightest privileges are repugnant to his reason; the faintest +dissimilarities in the political institutions of the same people +offend him, and uniformity of legislation appears to him to be +the first condition of good government. I find, on the contrary, +that this same notion of a uniform rule, equally binding on all +the members of the community, was almost unknown to the human +mind in aristocratic ages; it was either never entertained, or it +was rejected. These contrary tendencies of opinion ultimately +turn on either side to such blind instincts and such ungovernable +habits that they still direct the actions of men, in spite of +particular exceptions. Notwithstanding the immense variety of +conditions in the Middle Ages, a certain number of persons +existed at that period in precisely similar circumstances; but +this did not prevent the laws then in force from assigning to +each of them distinct duties and different rights. On the +contrary, at the present time all the powers of government are +exerted to impose the same customs and the same laws on +populations which have as yet but few points of resemblance. As +the conditions of men become equal amongst a people, individuals +seem of less importance, and society of greater dimensions; or +rather, every citizen, being assimilated to all the rest, is lost +in the crowd, and nothing stands conspicuous but the great and +imposing image of the people at large. This naturally gives the +men of democratic periods a lofty opinion of the privileges of +society, and a very humble notion of the rights of individuals; +they are ready to admit that the interests of the former are +everything, and those of the latter nothing. They are willing to +acknowledge that the power which represents the community has far +more information and wisdom than any of the members of that +community; and that it is the duty, as well as the right, of that +power to guide as well as govern each private citizen. + +If we closely scrutinize our contemporaries, and penetrate +to the root of their political opinions, we shall detect some of +the notions which I have just pointed out, and we shall perhaps +be surprised to find so much accordance between men who are so +often at variance. The Americans hold, that in every State the +supreme power ought to emanate from the people; but when once +that power is constituted, they can conceive, as it were, no +limits to it, and they are ready to admit that it has the right +to do whatever it pleases. They have not the slightest notion of +peculiar privileges granted to cities, families, or persons: +their minds appear never to have foreseen that it might be +possible not to apply with strict uniformity the same laws to +every part, and to all the inhabitants. These same opinions are +more and more diffused in Europe; they even insinuate themselves +amongst those nations which most vehemently reject the principle +of the sovereignty of the people. Such nations assign a different +origin to the supreme power, but they ascribe to that power the +same characteristics. Amongst them all, the idea of intermediate +powers is weakened and obliterated: the idea of rights inherent +in certain individuals is rapidly disappearing from the minds of +men; the idea of the omnipotence and sole authority of society at +large rises to fill its place. These ideas take root and spread +in proportion as social conditions become more equal, and men +more alike; they are engendered by equality, and in turn they +hasten the progress of equality. + +In France, where the revolution of which I am speaking has +gone further than in any other European country, these opinions +have got complete hold of the public mind. If we listen +attentively to the language of the various parties in France, we +shall find that there is not one which has not adopted them. +Most of these parties censure the conduct of the government, but +they all hold that the government ought perpetually to act and +interfere in everything that is done. Even those which are most +at variance are nevertheless agreed upon this head. The unity, +the ubiquity, the omnipotence of the supreme power, and the +uniformity of its rules, constitute the principal characteristics +of all the political systems which have been put forward in our +age. They recur even in the wildest visions of political +regeneration: the human mind pursues them in its dreams. If +these notions spontaneously arise in the minds of private +individuals, they suggest themselves still more forcibly to the +minds of princes. Whilst the ancient fabric of European society +is altered and dissolved, sovereigns acquire new conceptions of +their opportunities and their duties; they learn for the first +time that the central power which they represent may and ought to +administer by its own agency, and on a uniform plan, all the +concerns of the whole community. This opinion, which, I will +venture to say, was never conceived before our time by the +monarchs of Europe, now sinks deeply into the minds of kings, and +abides there amidst all the agitation of more unsettled thoughts. + +Our contemporaries are therefore much less divided than is +commonly supposed; they are constantly disputing as to the hands +in which supremacy is to be vested, but they readily agree upon +the duties and the rights of that supremacy. The notion they all +form of government is that of a sole, simple, providential, and +creative power. All secondary opinions in politics are +unsettled; this one remains fixed, invariable, and consistent. +It is adopted by statesmen and political philosophers; it is +eagerly laid hold of by the multitude; those who govern and those +who are governed agree to pursue it with equal ardor: it is the +foremost notion of their minds, it seems inborn. It originates +therefore in no caprice of the human intellect, but it is a +necessary condition of the present state of mankind. + +Chapter III: That The Sentiments Of Democratic Nations Accord +With Their Opinions In Leading Them To Concentrate Political +Power +If it be true that, in ages of equality, men readily adopt +the notion of a great central power, it cannot be doubted on the +other hand that their habits and sentiments predispose them to +recognize such a power and to give it their support. This may be +demonstrated in a few words, as the greater part of the reasons, +to which the fact may be attributed, have been previously stated. +*a As the men who inhabit democratic countries have no superiors, +no inferiors, and no habitual or necessary partners in their +undertakings, they readily fall back upon themselves and consider +themselves as beings apart. I had occasion to point this out at +considerable length in treating of individualism. Hence such men +can never, without an effort, tear themselves from their private +affairs to engage in public business; their natural bias leads +them to abandon the latter to the sole visible and permanent +representative of the interests of the community, that is to say, +to the State. Not only are they naturally wanting in a taste for +public business, but they have frequently no time to attend to +it. Private life is so busy in democratic periods, so excited, +so full of wishes and of work, that hardly any energy or leisure +remains to each individual for public life. I am the last man to +contend that these propensities are unconquerable, since my chief +object in writing this book has been to combat them. I only +maintain that at the present day a secret power is fostering them +in the human heart, and that if they are not checked they will +wholly overgrow it. + +[Footnote a: See Appendix W.] + +I have also had occasion to show how the increasing love of +well-being, and the fluctuating character of property, cause +democratic nations to dread all violent disturbance. The love of +public tranquillity is frequently the only passion which these +nations retain, and it becomes more active and powerful amongst +them in proportion as all other passions droop and die. This +naturally disposes the members of the community constantly to +give or to surrender additional rights to the central power, +which alone seems to be interested in defending them by the same +means that it uses to defend itself. As in ages of equality no +man is compelled to lend his assistance to his fellow-men, and +none has any right to expect much support from them, everyone is +at once independent and powerless. These two conditions, which +must never be either separately considered or confounded +together, inspire the citizen of a democratic country with very +contrary propensities. His independence fills him with +self-reliance and pride amongst his equals; his debility makes +him feel from time to time the want of some outward assistance, +which he cannot expect from any of them, because they are all +impotent and unsympathizing. In this predicament he naturally +turns his eyes to that imposing power which alone rises above the +level of universal depression. Of that power his wants and +especially his desires continually remind him, until he +ultimately views it as the sole and necessary support of his own +weakness. *b This may more completely explain what frequently +takes place in democratic countries, where the very men who are +so impatient of superiors patiently submit to a master, +exhibiting at once their pride and their servility. + +[Footnote b: In democratic communities nothing but the central +power has any stability in its position or any permanence in its +undertakings. All the members of society are in ceaseless stir +and transformation. Now it is in the nature of all governments +to seek constantly to enlarge their sphere of action; hence it is +almost impossible that such a government should not ultimately +succeed, because it acts with a fixed principle and a constant +will, upon men, whose position, whose notions, and whose desires +are in continual vacillation. It frequently happens that the +members of the community promote the influence of the central +power without intending it. Democratic ages are periods of +experiment, innovation, and adventure. At such times there are +always a multitude of men engaged in difficult or novel +undertakings, which they follow alone, without caring for their +fellowmen. Such persons may be ready to admit, as a general +principle, that the public authority ought not to interfere in +private concerns; but, by an exception to that rule, each of them +craves for its assistance in the particular concern on which he +is engaged, and seeks to draw upon the influence of the +government for his own benefit, though he would restrict it on +all other occasions. If a large number of men apply this +particular exception to a great variety of different purposes, +the sphere of the central power extends insensibly in all +directions, although each of them wishes it to be circumscribed. +Thus a democratic government increases its power simply by the +fact of its permanence. Time is on its side; every incident +befriends it; the passions of individuals unconsciously promote +it; and it may be asserted, that the older a democratic community +is, the more centralized will its government become.] + +The hatred which men bear to privilege increases in +proportion as privileges become more scarce and less +considerable, so that democratic passions would seem to burn most +fiercely at the very time when they have least fuel. I have +already given the reason of this phenomenon. When all conditions +are unequal, no inequality is so great as to offend the eye; +whereas the slightest dissimilarity is odious in the midst of +general uniformity: the more complete is this uniformity, the +more insupportable does the sight of such a difference become. +Hence it is natural that the love of equality should constantly +increase together with equality itself, and that it should grow +by what it feeds upon. This never-dying, ever- kindling hatred, +which sets a democratic people against the smallest privileges, +is peculiarly favorable to the gradual concentration of all +political rights in the hands of the representative of the State +alone. The sovereign, being necessarily and incontestably above +all the citizens, excites not their envy, and each of them thinks +that he strips his equals of the prerogative which he concedes to +the crown. The man of a democratic age is extremely reluctant to +obey his neighbor who is his equal; he refuses to acknowledge in +such a person ability superior to his own; he mistrusts his +justice, and is jealous of his power; he fears and he contemns +him; and he loves continually to remind him of the common +dependence in which both of them stand to the same master. Every +central power which follows its natural tendencies courts and +encourages the principle of equality; for equality singularly +facilitates, extends, and secures the influence of a central +power. + +In like manner it may be said that every central government +worships uniformity: uniformity relieves it from inquiry into an +infinite number of small details which must be attended to if +rules were to be adapted to men, instead of indiscriminately +subjecting men to rules: thus the government likes what the +citizens like, and naturally hates what they hate. These common +sentiments, which, in democratic nations, constantly unite the +sovereign and every member of the community in one and the same +conviction, establish a secret and lasting sympathy between them. +The faults of the government are pardoned for the sake of its +tastes; public confidence is only reluctantly withdrawn in the +midst even of its excesses and its errors, and it is restored at +the first call. Democratic nations often hate those in whose +hands the central power is vested; but they always love that +power itself. + +Thus, by two separate paths, I have reached the same +conclusion. I have shown that the principle of equality suggests +to men the notion of a sole, uniform, and strong government: I +have now shown that the principle of equality imparts to them a +taste for it. To governments of this kind the nations of our age +are therefore tending. They are drawn thither by the natural +inclination of mind and heart; and in order to reach that result, +it is enough that they do not check themselves in their course. +I am of opinion, that, in the democratic ages which are opening +upon us, individual independence and local liberties will ever be +the produce of artificial contrivance; that centralization will +be the natural form of government. *c + +[Footnote c: See Appendix X.] + +Chapter IV: Of Certain Peculiar And Accidental Causes Which +Either Lead A People To Complete Centralization Of Government, Or +Which Divert Them From It + +If all democratic nations are instinctively led to the +centralization of government, they tend to this result in an +unequal manner. This depends on the particular circumstances +which may promote or prevent the natural consequences of that +state of society - circumstances which are exceedingly numerous; +but I shall only advert to a few of them. Amongst men who have +lived free long before they became equal, the tendencies derived +from free institutions combat, to a certain extent, the +propensities superinduced by the principle of equality; and +although the central power may increase its privileges amongst +such a people, the private members of such a community will never +entirely forfeit their independence. But when the equality of +conditions grows up amongst a people which has never known, or +has long ceased to know, what freedom is (and such is the case +upon the Continent of Europe), as the former habits of the nation +are suddenly combined, by some sort of natural attraction, with +the novel habits and principles engendered by the state of +society, all powers seem spontaneously to rush to the centre. +These powers accumulate there with astonishing rapidity, and the +State instantly attains the utmost limits of its strength, whilst +private persons allow themselves to sink as suddenly to the +lowest degree of weakness. + +The English who emigrated three hundred years ago to found a +democratic commonwealth on the shores of the New World, had all +learned to take a part in public affairs in their mother-country; +they were conversant with trial by jury; they were accustomed to +liberty of speech and of the press - to personal freedom, to the +notion of rights and the practice of asserting them. They carried +with them to America these free institutions and manly customs, +and these institutions preserved them against the encroachments +of the State. Thus amongst the Americans it is freedom which is +old - equality is of comparatively modern date. The reverse is +occurring in Europe, where equality, introduced by absolute power +and under the rule of kings, was already infused into the habits +of nations long before freedom had entered into their +conceptions. + +I have said that amongst democratic nations the notion of +government naturally presents itself to the mind under the form +of a sole and central power, and that the notion of intermediate +powers is not familiar to them. This is peculiarly applicable to +the democratic nations which have witnessed the triumph of the +principle of equality by means of a violent revolution. As the +classes which managed local affairs have been suddenly swept away +by the storm, and as the confused mass which remains has as yet +neither the organization nor the habits which fit it to assume +the administration of these same affairs, the State alone seems +capable of taking upon itself all the details of government, and +centralization becomes, as it were, the unavoidable state of the +country. Napoleon deserves neither praise nor censure for having +centred in his own hands almost all the administrative power of +France; for, after the abrupt disappearance of the nobility and +the higher rank of the middle classes, these powers devolved on +him of course: it would have been almost as difficult for him to +reject as to assume them. But no necessity of this kind has ever +been felt by the Americans, who, having passed through no +revolution, and having governed themselves from the first, never +had to call upon the State to act for a time as their guardian. +Thus the progress of centralization amongst a democratic people +depends not only on the progress of equality, but on the manner +in which this equality has been established. + +At the commencement of a great democratic revolution, when +hostilities have but just broken out between the different +classes of society, the people endeavors to centralize the public +administration in the hands of the government, in order to wrest +the management of local affairs from the aristocracy. Towards +the close of such a revolution, on the contrary, it is usually +the conquered aristocracy that endeavors to make over the +management of all affairs to the State, because such an +aristocracy dreads the tyranny of a people which has become its +equal, and not unfrequently its master. Thus it is not always the +same class of the community which strives to increase the +prerogative of the government; but as long as the democratic +revolution lasts there is always one class in the nation, +powerful in numbers or in wealth, which is induced, by peculiar +passions or interests, to centralize the public administration, +independently of that hatred of being governed by one's neighbor, +which is a general and permanent feeling amongst democratic +nations. It may be remarked, that at the present day the lower +orders in England are striving with all their might to destroy +local independence, and to transfer the administration from all +points of the circumference to the centre; whereas the higher +classes are endeavoring to retain this administration within its +ancient boundaries. I venture to predict that a time will come +when the very reverse will happen. + +These observations explain why the supreme power is always +stronger, and private individuals weaker, amongst a democratic +people which has passed through a long and arduous struggle to +reach a state of equality than amongst a democratic community in +which the citizens have been equal from the first. The example of +the Americans completely demonstrates the fact. The inhabitants +of the United States were never divided by any privileges; they +have never known the mutual relation of master and inferior, and +as they neither dread nor hate each other, they have never known +the necessity of calling in the supreme power to manage their +affairs. The lot of the Americans is singular: they have derived +from the aristocracy of England the notion of private rights and +the taste for local freedom; and they have been able to retain +both the one and the other, because they have had no aristocracy +to combat. + +If at all times education enables men to defend their +independence, this is most especially true in democratic ages. +When all men are alike, it is easy to found a sole and +all-powerful government, by the aid of mere instinct. But men +require much intelligence, knowledge, and art to organize and to +maintain secondary powers under similar circumstances, and to +create amidst the independence and individual weakness of the +citizens such free associations as may be in a condition to +struggle against tyranny without destroying public order. + +Hence the concentration of power and the subjection of +individuals will increase amongst democratic nations, not only in +the same proportion as their equality, but in the same proportion +as their ignorance. It is true, that in ages of imperfect +civilization the government is frequently as wanting in the +knowledge required to impose a despotism upon the people as the +people are wanting in the knowledge required to shake it off; but +the effect is not the same on both sides. However rude a +democratic people may be, the central power which rules it is +never completely devoid of cultivation, because it readily draws +to its own uses what little cultivation is to be found in the +country, and, if necessary, may seek assistance elsewhere. +Hence, amongst a nation which is ignorant as well as democratic, +an amazing difference cannot fail speedily to arise between the +intellectual capacity of the ruler and that of each of his +subjects. This completes the easy concentration of all power in +his hands: the administrative function of the State is +perpetually extended, because the State alone is competent to +administer the affairs of the country. Aristocratic nations, +however unenlightened they may be, never afford the same +spectacle, because in them instruction is nearly equally diffused +between the monarch and the leading members of the community. + +The pacha who now rules in Egypt found the population of +that country composed of men exceedingly ignorant and equal, and +he has borrowed the science and ability of Europe to govern that +people. As the personal attainments of the sovereign are thus +combined with the ignorance and democratic weakness of his +subjects, the utmost centralization has been established without +impediment, and the pacha has made the country his manufactory, +and the inhabitants his workmen. + +I think that extreme centralization of government ultimately +enervates society, and thus after a length of time weakens the +government itself; but I do not deny that a centralized social +power may be able to execute great undertakings with facility in +a given time and on a particular point. This is more especially +true of war, in which success depends much more on the means of +transferring all the resources of a nation to one single point, +than on the extent of those resources. Hence it is chiefly in +war that nations desire and frequently require to increase the +powers of the central government. All men of military genius are +fond of centralization, which increases their strength; and all +men of centralizing genius are fond of war, which compels nations +to combine all their powers in the hands of the government. Thus +the democratic tendency which leads men unceasingly to multiply +the privileges of the State, and to circumscribe the rights of +private persons, is much more rapid and constant amongst those +democratic nations which are exposed by their position to great +and frequent wars, than amongst all others. + +I have shown how the dread of disturbance and the love of +well-being insensibly lead democratic nations to increase the +functions of central government, as the only power which appears +to be intrinsically sufficiently strong, enlightened, and secure, +to protect them from anarchy. I would now add, that all the +particular circumstances which tend to make the state of a +democratic community agitated and precarious, enhance this +general propensity, and lead private persons more and more to +sacrifice their rights to their tranquility. A people is +therefore never so disposed to increase the functions of central +government as at the close of a long and bloody revolution, +which, after having wrested property from the hands of its former +possessors, has shaken all belief, and filled the nation with +fierce hatreds, conflicting interests, and contending factions. +The love of public tranquillity becomes at such times an +indiscriminating passion, and the members of the community are +apt to conceive a most inordinate devotion to order. + +I have already examined several of the incidents which may +concur to promote the centralization of power, but the principal +cause still remains to be noticed. The foremost of the +incidental causes which may draw the management of all affairs +into the hands of the ruler in democratic countries, is the +origin of that ruler himself, and his own propensities. Men who +live in the ages of equality are naturally fond of central power, +and are willing to extend its privileges; but if it happens that +this same power faithfully represents their own interests, and +exactly copies their own inclinations, the confidence they place +in it knows no bounds, and they think that whatever they bestow +upon it is bestowed upon themselves. + +The attraction of administrative powers to the centre will +always be less easy and less rapid under the reign of kings who +are still in some way connected with the old aristocratic order, +than under new princes, the children of their own achievements, +whose birth, prejudices, propensities, and habits appear to bind +them indissolubly to the cause of equality. I do not mean that +princes of aristocratic origin who live in democratic ages do not +attempt to centralize; I believe they apply themselves to that +object as diligently as any others. For them, the sole +advantages of equality lie in that direction; but their +opportunities are less great, because the community, instead of +volunteering compliance with their desires, frequently obeys them +with reluctance. In democratic communities the rule is that +centralization must increase in proportion as the sovereign is +less aristocratic. When an ancient race of kings stands at the +head of an aristocracy, as the natural prejudices of the +sovereign perfectly accord with the natural prejudices of the +nobility, the vices inherent in aristocratic communities have a +free course, and meet with no corrective. The reverse is the +case when the scion of a feudal stock is placed at the head of a +democratic people. The sovereign is constantly led, by his +education, his habits, and his associations, to adopt sentiments +suggested by the inequality of conditions, and the people tend as +constantly, by their social condition, to those manners which are +engendered by equality. At such times it often happens that the +citizens seek to control the central power far less as a +tyrannical than as an aristocratical power, and that they persist +in the firm defence of their independence, not only because they +would remain free, but especially because they are determined to +remain equal. A revolution which overthrows an ancient regal +family, in order to place men of more recent growth at the head +of a democratic people, may temporarily weaken the central power; +but however anarchical such a revolution may appear at first, we +need not hesitate to predict that its final and certain +consequence will be to extend and to secure the prerogatives of +that power. The foremost or indeed the sole condition which is +required in order to succeed in centralizing the supreme power in +a democratic community, is to love equality, or to get men to +believe you love it. Thus the science of despotism, which was +once so complex, is simplified, and reduced as it were to a +single principle. + + +Book Four - Chapter V + +Chapter V: That Amongst The European Nations Of Our Time The +Power Of Governments Is Increasing, Although The Persons Who +Govern Are Less Stable + +On reflecting upon what has already been said, the reader +will be startled and alarmed to find that in Europe everything +seems to conduce to the indefinite extension of the prerogatives +of government, and to render all that enjoyed the rights of +private independence more weak, more subordinate, and more +precarious. The democratic nations of Europe have all the +general and permanent tendencies which urge the Americans to the +centralization of government, and they are moreover exposed to a +number of secondary and incidental causes with which the +Americans are unacquainted. It would seem as if every step they +make towards equality brings them nearer to despotism. And indeed +if we do but cast our looks around, we shall be convinced that +such is the fact. During the aristocratic ages which preceded +the present time, the sovereigns of Europe had been deprived of, +or had relinquished, many of the rights inherent in their power. +Not a hundred years ago, amongst the greater part of European +nations, numerous private persons and corporations were +sufficiently independent to administer justice, to raise and +maintain troops, to levy taxes, and frequently even to make or +interpret the law. The State has everywhere resumed to itself +alone these natural attributes of sovereign power; in all matters +of government the State tolerates no intermediate agent between +itself and the people, and in general business it directs the +people by its own immediate influence. I am far from blaming +this concentration of power, I simply point it out. + +At the same period a great number of secondary powers +existed in Europe, which represented local interests and +administered local affairs. Most of these local authorities have +already disappeared; all are speedily tending to disappear, or to +fall into the most complete dependence. From one end of Europe +to the other the privileges of the nobility, the liberties of +cities, and the powers of provincial bodies, are either destroyed +or upon the verge of destruction. Europe has endured, in the +course of the last half- century, many revolutions and +counter-revolutions which have agitated it in opposite +directions: but all these perturbations resemble each other in +one respect -they have all shaken or destroyed the secondary +powers of government. The local privileges which the French did +not abolish in the countries they conquered, have finally +succumbed to the policy of the princes who conquered the French. +Those princes rejected all the innovations of the French +Revolution except centralization: that is the only principle they +consented to receive from such a source. My object is to remark, +that all these various rights, which have been successively +wrested, in our time, from classes, corporations, and +individuals, have not served to raise new secondary powers on a +more democratic basis, but have uniformly been concentrated in +the hands of the sovereign. Everywhere the State acquires more +and more direct control over the humblest members of the +community, and a more exclusive power of governing each of them +in his smallest concerns. *a Almost all the charitable +establishments of Europe were formerly in the hands of private +persons or of corporations; they are now almost all dependent on +the supreme government, and in many countries are actually +administered by that power. The State almost exclusively +undertakes to supply bread to the hungry, assistance and shelter +to the sick, work to the idle, and to act as the sole reliever of +all kinds of misery. Education, as well as charity, is become in +most countries at the present day a national concern. The State +receives, and often takes, the child from the arms of the mother, +to hand it over to official agents: the State undertakes to train +the heart and to instruct the mind of each generation. +Uniformity prevails in the courses of public instruction as in +everything else; diversity, as well as freedom, is disappearing +day by day. Nor do I hesitate to affirm, that amongst almost all +the Christian nations of our days, Catholic as well as +Protestant, religion is in danger of falling into the hands of +the government. Not that rulers are over-jealous of the right of +settling points of doctrine, but they get more and more hold upon +the will of those by whom doctrines are expounded; they deprive +the clergy of their property, and pay them by salaries; they +divert to their own use the influence of the priesthood, they +make them their own ministers - often their own servants - and by +this alliance with religion they reach the inner depths of the +soul of man. *b + +[Footnote a: This gradual weakening of individuals in relation to +society at large may be traced in a thousand ways. I shall +select from amongst these examples one derived from the law of +wills. In aristocracies it is common to profess the greatest +reverence for the last testamentary dispositions of a man; this +feeling sometimes even became superstitious amongst the older +nations of Europe: the power of the State, far from interfering +with the caprices of a dying man, gave full force to the very +least of them, and insured to him a perpetual power. When all +living men are enfeebled, the will of the dead is less respected: +it is circumscribed within a narrow range, beyond which it is +annulled or checked by the supreme power of the laws. In the +Middle Ages, testamentary power had, so to speak, no limits: +amongst the French at the present day, a man cannot distribute +his fortune amongst his children without the interference of the +State; after having domineered over a whole life, the law insists +upon regulating the very last act of it.] + +[Footnote b: In proportion as the duties of the central power are +augmented, the number of public officers by whom that power is +represented must increase also. They form a nation in each +nation; and as they share the stability of the government, they +more and more fill up the place of an aristocracy. + +In almost every part of Europe the government rules in two +ways; it rules one portion of the community by the fear which +they entertain of its agents, and the other by the hope they have +of becoming its agents.] + +But this is as yet only one side of the picture. The +authority of government has not only spread, as we have just +seen, throughout the sphere of all existing powers, till that +sphere can no longer contain it, but it goes further, and invades +the domain heretofore reserved to private independence. A +multitude of actions, which were formerly entirely beyond the +control of the public administration, have been subjected to that +control in our time, and the number of them is constantly +increasing. Amongst aristocratic nations the supreme government +usually contented itself with managing and superintending the +community in whatever directly and ostensibly concerned the +national honor; but in all other respects the people were left to +work out their own free will. Amongst these nations the +government often seemed to forget that there is a point at which +the faults and the sufferings of private persons involve the +general prosperity, and that to prevent the ruin of a private +individual must sometimes be a matter of public importance. The +democratic nations of our time lean to the opposite extreme. It +is evident that most of our rulers will not content themselves +with governing the people collectively: it would seem as if they +thought themselves responsible for the actions and private +condition of their subjects - as if they had undertaken to guide +and to instruct each of them in the various incidents of life, +and to secure their happiness quite independently of their own +consent. On the other hand private individuals grow more and +more apt to look upon the supreme power in the same light; they +invoke its assistance in all their necessities, and they fix +their eyes upon the administration as their mentor or their +guide. + +I assert that there is no country in Europe in which the +public administration has not become, not only more centralized, +but more inquisitive and more minute it everywhere interferes in +private concerns more than it did; it regulates more +undertakings, and undertakings of a lesser kind; and it gains a +firmer footing every day about, above, and around all private +persons, to assist, to advise, and to coerce them. Formerly a +sovereign lived upon the income of his lands, or the revenue of +his taxes; this is no longer the case now that his wants have +increased as well as his power. Under the same circumstances +which formerly compelled a prince to put on a new tax, he now has +recourse to a loan. Thus the State gradually becomes the debtor +of most of the wealthier members of the community, and +centralizes the largest amounts of capital in its own hands. +Small capital is drawn into its keeping by another method. As +men are intermingled and conditions become more equal, the poor +have more resources, more education, and more desires; they +conceive the notion of bettering their condition, and this +teaches them to save. These savings are daily producing an +infinite number of small capitals, the slow and gradual produce +of labor, which are always increasing. But the greater part of +this money would be unproductive if it remained scattered in the +hands of its owners. This circumstance has given rise to a +philanthropic institution, which will soon become, if I am not +mistaken, one of our most important political institutions. Some +charitable persons conceived the notion of collecting the savings +of the poor and placing them out at interest. In some countries +these benevolent associations are still completely distinct from +the State; but in almost all they manifestly tend to identify +themselves with the government; and in some of them the +government has superseded them, taking upon itself the enormous +task of centralizing in one place, and putting out at interest on +its own responsibility, the daily savings of many millions of the +working classes. Thus the State draws to itself the wealth of the +rich by loans, and has the poor man's mite at its disposal in the +savings banks. The wealth of the country is perpetually flowing +around the government and passing through its hands; the +accumulation increases in the same proportion as the equality of +conditions; for in a democratic country the State alone inspires +private individuals with confidence, because the State alone +appears to be endowed with strength and durability. *c Thus the +sovereign does not confine himself to the management of the +public treasury; he interferes in private money matters; he is +the superior, and often the master, of all the members of the +community; and, in addition to this, he assumes the part of their +steward and paymaster. + +[Footnote c: On the one hand the taste for worldly welfare is +perpetually increasing, and on the other the government gets more +and more complete possession of the sources of that welfare. +Thus men are following two separate roads to servitude: the taste +for their own welfare withholds them from taking a part in the +government, and their love of that welfare places them in closer +dependence upon those who govern.] + +The central power not only fulfils of itself the whole of +the duties formerly discharged by various authorities - extending +those duties, and surpassing those authorities - but it performs +them with more alertness, strength, and independence than it +displayed before. All the governments of Europe have in our time +singularly improved the science of administration: they do more +things, and they do everything with more order, more celerity, +and at less expense; they seem to be constantly enriched by all +the experience of which they have stripped private persons. From +day to day the princes of Europe hold their subordinate officers +under stricter control, and they invent new methods for guiding +them more closely, and inspecting them with less trouble. Not +content with managing everything by their agents, they undertake +to manage the conduct of their agents in everything; so that the +public administration not only depends upon one and the same +power, but it is more and more confined to one spot and +concentrated in the same hands. The government centralizes its +agency whilst it increases its prerogative - hence a twofold +increase of strength. + +In examining the ancient constitution of the judicial power, +amongst most European nations, two things strike the mind - the +independence of that power, and the extent of its functions. Not +only did the courts of justice decide almost all differences +between private persons, but in very many cases they acted as +arbiters between private persons and the State. I do not here +allude to the political and administrative offices which courts +of judicature had in some countries usurped, but the judicial +office common to them all. In most of the countries of Europe, +there were, and there still are, many private rights, connected +for the most part with the general right of property, which stood +under the protection of the courts of justice, and which the +State could not violate without their sanction. It was this +semi-political power which mainly distinguished the European +courts of judicature from all others; for all nations have had +judges, but all have not invested their judges with the same +privileges. Upon examining what is now occurring amongst the +democratic nations of Europe which are called free, as well as +amongst the others, it will be observed that new and more +dependent courts are everywhere springing up by the side of the +old ones, for the express purpose of deciding, by an +extraordinary jurisdiction, such litigated matters as may arise +between the government and private persons. The elder judicial +power retains its independence, but its jurisdiction is narrowed; +and there is a growing tendency to reduce it to be exclusively +the arbiter between private interests. The number of these +special courts of justice is continually increasing, and their +functions increase likewise. Thus the government is more and +more absolved from the necessity of subjecting its policy and its +rights to the sanction of another power. As judges cannot be +dispensed with, at least the State is to select them, and always +to hold them under its control; so that, between the government +and private individuals, they place the effigy of justice rather +than justice itself. The State is not satisfied with drawing all +concerns to itself, but it acquires an ever-increasing power of +deciding on them all without restriction and without appeal. *d + +[Footnote d: A strange sophism has been made on this head in +France. When a suit arises between the government and a private +person, it is not to be tried before an ordinary judge - in +order, they say, not to mix the administrative and the judicial +powers; as if it were not to mix those powers, and to mix them in +the most dangerous and oppressive manner, to invest the +government with the office of judging and administering at the +same time.] + +There exists amongst the modern nations of Europe one great +cause, independent of all those which have already been pointed +out, which perpetually contributes to extend the agency or to +strengthen the prerogative of the supreme power, though it has +not been sufficiently attended to: I mean the growth of +manufactures, which is fostered by the progress of social +equality. Manufactures generally collect a multitude of men of +the same spot, amongst whom new and complex relations spring up. +These men are exposed by their calling to great and sudden +alternations of plenty and want, during which public tranquillity +is endangered. It may also happen that these employments +sacrifice the health, and even the life, of those who gain by +them, or of those who live by them. Thus the manufacturing +classes require more regulation, superintendence, and restraint +than the other classes of society, and it is natural that the +powers of government should increase in the same proportion as +those classes. + +This is a truth of general application; what follows more +especially concerns the nations of Europe. In the centuries +which preceded that in which we live, the aristocracy was in +possession of the soil, and was competent to defend it: landed +property was therefore surrounded by ample securities, and its +possessors enjoyed great independence. This gave rise to laws +and customs which have been perpetuated, notwithstanding the +subdivision of lands and the ruin of the nobility; and, at the +present time, landowners and agriculturists are still those +amongst the community who must easily escape from the control of +the supreme power. In these same aristocratic ages, in which all +the sources of our history are to be traced, personal property +was of small importance, and those who possessed it were despised +and weak: the manufacturing class formed an exception in the +midst of those aristocratic communities; as it had no certain +patronage, it was not outwardly protected, and was often unable +to protect itself. + +Hence a habit sprung up of considering manufacturing property as +something of a peculiar nature, not entitled to the same +deference, and not worthy of the same securities as property in +general; and manufacturers were looked upon as a small class in +the bulk of the people, whose independence was of small +importance, and who might with propriety be abandoned to the +disciplinary passions of princes. On glancing over the codes of +the middle ages, one is surprised to see, in those periods of +personal independence, with what incessant royal regulations +manufactures were hampered, even in their smallest details: on +this point centralization was as active and as minute as it can +ever be. Since that time a great revolution has taken place in +the world; manufacturing property, which was then only in the +germ, has spread till it covers Europe: the manufacturing class +has been multiplied and enriched by the remnants of all other +ranks; it has grown and is still perpetually growing in number, +in importance, in wealth. Almost all those who do not belong to +it are connected with it at least on some one point; after having +been an exception in society, it threatens to become the chief, +if not the only, class; nevertheless the notions and political +precedents engendered by it of old still cling about it. These +notions and these precedents remain unchanged, because they are +old, and also because they happen to be in perfect accordance +with the new notions and general habits of our contemporaries. +Manufacturing property then does not extend its rights in the +same ratio as its importance. The manufacturing classes do not +become less dependent, whilst they become more numerous; but, on +the contrary, it would seem as if despotism lurked within them, +and naturally grew with their growth. *e As a nation becomes more +engaged in manufactures, the want of roads, canals, harbors, and +other works of a semi-public nature, which facilitate the +acquisition of wealth, is more strongly felt; and as a nation +becomes more democratic, private individuals are less able, and +the State more able, to execute works of such magnitude. I do +not hesitate to assert that the manifest tendency of all +governments at the present time is to take upon themselves alone +the execution of these undertakings; by which means they daily +hold in closer dependence the population which they govern. + +[Footnote e: I shall quote a few facts in corroboration of this +remark. Mines are the natural sources of manufacturing wealth: as +manufactures have grown up in Europe, as the produce of mines has +become of more general importance, and good mining more difficult +from the subdivision of property which is a consequence of the +equality of conditions, most governments have asserted a right of +owning the soil in which the mines lie, and of inspecting the +works; which has never been the case with any other kind of +property. Thus mines, which were private property, liable to the +same obligations and sheltered by the same guarantees as all +other landed property, have fallen under the control of the +State. The State either works them or farms them; the owners of +them are mere tenants, deriving their rights from the State; and, +moreover, the State almost everywhere claims the power of +directing their operations: it lays down rules, enforces the +adoption of particular methods, subjects the mining adventurers +to constant superintendence, and, if refractory, they are ousted +by a government court of justice, and the government transfers +their contract to other hands; so that the government not only +possesses the mines, but has all the adventurers in its power. +Nevertheless, as manufactures increase, the working of old mines +increases also; new ones are opened, the mining population +extends and grows up; day by day governments augment their +subterranean dominions, and people them with their agents.] + +On the other hand, in proportion as the power of a State +increases, and its necessities are augmented, the State +consumption of manufactured produce is always growing larger, and +toese commodities are generally made in the arsenals or +establishments of the government. Thus, in every kingdom, the +ruler becomes the principal manufacturer; he collects and retains +in his service a vast number of engineers, architects, mechanics, +and handicraftsmen. Not only is he the principal manufacturer, +but he tends more and more to become the chief, or rather the +master of all other manufacturers. As private persons become +more powerless by becoming more equal, they can effect nothing in +manufactures without combination; but the government naturally +seeks to place these combinations under its own control. + +It must be admitted that these collective beings, which are +called combinations, are stronger and more formidable than a +private individual can ever be, and that they have less of the +responsibility of their own actions; whence it seems reasonable +that they should not be allowed to retain so great an +independence of the supreme government as might be conceded to a +private individual. + +Rulers are the more apt to follow this line of policy, as +their own inclinations invite them to it. Amongst democratic +nations it is only by association that the resistance of the +people to the government can ever display itself: hence the +latter always looks with ill-favor on those associations which +are not in its own power; and it is well worthy of remark, that +amongst democratic nations, the people themselves often entertain +a secret feeling of fear and jealousy against these very +associations, which prevents the citizens from defending the +institutions of which they stand so much in need. The power and +the duration of these small private bodies, in the midst of the +weakness and instability of the whole community, astonish and +alarm the people; and the free use which each association makes +of its natural powers is almost regarded as a dangerous +privilege. All the associations which spring up in our age are, +moreover, new corporate powers, whose rights have not been +sanctioned by time; they come into existence at a time when the +notion ofprivate rights is weak, and when the power of government +is unbounded; hence it is not surprising that they lose their +freedom at their birth. Amongst all European nations there are +some kinds of associations which cannot be formed until the State +has examined their by-laws, and authorized their existence. In +several others, attempts are made to extend this rule to all +associations; the consequences of such a policy, if it were +successful, may easily be foreseen. If once the sovereign had a +general right of authorizing associations of all kinds upon +certain conditions, he would not be long without claiming the +right of superintending and managing them, in order to prevent +them from departing from the rules laid down by himself. In this +manner, the State, after having reduced all who are desirous of +forming associations into dependence, would proceed to reduce +into the same condition all who belong to associations already +formed - that is to say, almost all the men who are now in +existence. Governments thus appropriate to themselves, and +convert to their own purposes, the greater part of this new power +which manufacturing interests have in our time brought into the +world. Manufacturers govern us - they govern manufactures. + +I attach so much importance to all that I have just been +saying, that I am tormented by the fear of having impaired my +meaning in seeking to render it more clear. If the reader thinks +that the examples I have adduced to support my observations are +insufficient or ill-chosen - if he imagines that I have anywhere +exaggerated the encroachments of the supreme power, and, on the +other hand, that I have underrated the extent of the sphere which +still remains open to the exertions of individual independence, I +entreat him to lay down the book for a moment, and to turn his +mind to reflect for himself upon the subjects I have attempted to +explain. Let him attentively examine what is taking place in +France and in other countries - let him inquire of those about +him - let him search himself, and I am much mistaken if he does +not arrive, without my guidance, and by other paths, at the point +to which I have sought to lead him. He will perceive that for +the last half-century, centralization has everywhere been growing +up in a thousand different ways. Wars, revolutions, conquests, +have served to promote it: all men have labored to increase it. +In the course of the same period, during which men have succeeded +each other with singular rapidity at the head of affairs, their +notions, interests, and passions have been infinitely +diversified; but all have by some means or other sought to +centralize. This instinctive centralization has been the only +settled point amidst the extreme mutability of their lives and of +their thoughts. + +If the reader, after having investigated these details of +human affairs, will seek to survey the wide prospect as a whole, +he will be struck by the result. On the one hand the most +settled dynasties shaken or overthrown - the people everywhere +escaping by violence from the sway of their laws -abolishing or +limiting the authority of their rulers or their princes - the +nations, which are not in open revolution, restless at least, and +excited -all of them animated by the same spirit of revolt: and +on the other hand, at this very period of anarchy, and amongst +these untractable nations, the incessant increase of the +prerogative of the supreme government, becoming more centralized, +more adventurous, more absolute, more extensive - the people +perpetually falling under the control of the public +administration - led insensibly to surrender to it some further +portion of their individual independence, till the very men, who +from time to time upset a throne and trample on a race of kings, +bend more and more obsequiously to the slightest dictate of a +clerk. Thus two contrary revolutions appear in our days to be +going on; the one continually weakening the supreme power, the +other as continually strengthening it: at no other period in our +history has it appeared so weak or so strong. But upon a more +attentive examination of the state of the world, it appears that +these two revolutions are intimately connected together, that +they originate in the same source, and that after having followed +a separate course, they lead men at last to the same result. I +may venture once more to repeat what I have already said or +implied in several parts of this book: great care must be taken +not to confound the principle of equality itself with the +revolution which finally establishes that principle in the social +condition and the laws of a nation: here lies the reason of +almost all the phenomena which occasion our astonishment. All +the old political powers of Europe, the greatest as well as the +least, were founded in ages of aristocracy, and they more or less +represented or defended the principles of inequality and of +privilege. To make the novel wants and interests, which the +growing principle of equality introduced, preponderate in +government, our contemporaries had to overturn or to coerce the +established powers. This led them to make revolutions, and +breathed into many of them, that fierce love of disturbance and +independence, which all revolutions, whatever be their object, +always engender. I do not believe that there is a single country +in Europe in which the progress of equality has not been preceded +or followed by some violent changes in the state of property and +persons; and almost all these changes have been attended with +much anarchy and license, because they have been made by the +least civilized portion of the nation against that which is most +civilized. Hence proceeded the two-fold contrary tendencies +which I have just pointed out. As long as the democratic +revolution was glowing with heat, the men who were bent upon the +destruction of old aristocratic powers hostile to that +revolution, displayed a strong spirit of independence; but as the +victory or the principle of equality became more complete, they +gradually surrendered themselves to the propensities natural to +that condition of equality, and they strengthened and centralized +their governments. They had sought to be free in order to make +themselves equal; but in proportion as equality was more +established by the aid of freedom, freedom itself was thereby +rendered of more difficult attainment. + +These two states of a nation have sometimes been +contemporaneous: the last generation in France showed how a +people might organize a stupendous tyranny in the community, at +the very time when they were baffling the authority of the +nobility and braving the power of all kings - at once teaching +the world the way to win freedom, and the way to lose it. In our +days men see that constituted powers are dilapidated on every +side - they see all ancient authority gasping away, all ancient +barriers tottering to their fall, and the judgment of the wisest +is troubled at the sight: they attend only to the amazing +revolution which is taking place before their eyes, and they +imagine that mankind is about to fall into perpetual anarchy: if +they looked to the final consequences of this revolution, their +fears would perhaps assume a different shape. For myself, I +confess that I put no trust in the spirit of freedom which +appears to animate my contemporaries. I see well enough that the +nations of this age are turbulent, but I do not clearly perceive +that they are liberal; and I fear lest, at the close of those +perturbations which rock the base of thrones, the domination of +sovereigns may prove more powerful than it ever was before. + + +Book Four - Chapters VI,VII + +Chapter VI: What Sort Of Despotism Democratic Nations Have To +Fear + +I had remarked during my stay in the United States, that a +democratic state of society, similar to that of the Americans, +might offer singular facilities for the establishment of +despotism; and I perceived, upon my return to Europe, how much +use had already been made by most of our rulers, of the notions, +the sentiments, and the wants engendered by this same social +condition, for the purpose of extending the circle of their +power. This led me to think that the nations of Christendom +would perhaps eventually undergo some sort of oppression like +that which hung over several of the nations of the ancient world. +A more accurate examination of the subject, and five years of +further meditations, have not diminished my apprehensions, but +they have changed the object of them. No sovereign ever lived in +former ages so absolute or so powerful as to undertake to +administer by his own agency, and without the assistance of +intermediate powers, all the parts of a great empire: none ever +attempted to subject all his subjects indiscriminately to strict +uniformity of regulation, and personally to tutor and direct +every member of the community. The notion of such an undertaking +never occurred to the human mind; and if any man had conceived +it, the want of information, the imperfection of the +administrative system, and above all, the natural obstacles +caused by the inequality of conditions, would speedily have +checked the execution of so vast a design. When the Roman +emperors were at the height of their power, the different nations +of the empire still preserved manners and customs of great +diversity; although they were subject to the same monarch, most +of the provinces were separately administered; they abounded in +powerful and active municipalities; and although the whole +government of the empire was centred in the hands of the emperor +alone, and he always remained, upon occasions, the supreme +arbiter in all matters, yet the details of social life and +private occupations lay for the most part beyond his control. +The emperors possessed, it is true, an immense and unchecked +power, which allowed them to gratify all their whimsical tastes, +and to employ for that purpose the whole strength of the State. +They frequently abused that power arbitrarily to deprive their +subjects of property or of life: their tyranny was extremely +onerous to the few, but it did not reach the greater number; it +was fixed to some few main objects, and neglected the rest; it +was violent, but its range was limited. + +But it would seem that if despotism were to be established +amongst the democratic nations of our days, it might assume a +different character; it would be more extensive and more mild; it +would degrade men without tormenting them. I do not question, +that in an age of instruction and equality like our own, +sovereigns might more easily succeed in collecting all political +power into their own hands, and might interfere more habitually +and decidedly within the circle of private interests, than any +sovereign of antiquity could ever do. But this same principle of +equality which facilitates despotism, tempers its rigor. We have +seen how the manners of society become more humane and gentle in +proportion as men become more equal and alike. When no member of +the community has much power or much wealth, tyranny is, as it +were, without opportunities and a field of action. As all +fortunes are scanty, the passions of men are naturally +circumscribed - their imagination limited, their pleasures +simple. This universal moderation moderates the sovereign +himself, and checks within certain limits the inordinate extent +of his desires. + +Independently of these reasons drawn from the nature of the +state of society itself, I might add many others arising from +causes beyond my subject; but I shall keep within the limits I +have laid down to myself. Democratic governments may become +violent and even cruel at certain periods of extreme +effervescence or of great danger: but these crises will be rare +and brief. When I consider the petty passions of our +contemporaries, the mildness of their manners, the extent of +their education, the purity of their religion, the gentleness of +their morality, their regular and industrious habits, and the +restraint which they almost all observe in their vices no less +than in their virtues, I have no fear that they will meet with +tyrants in their rulers, but rather guardians. *a I think then +that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are +menaced is unlike anything which ever before existed in the +world: our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their +memories. I am trying myself to choose an expression which will +accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it, but +in vain; the old words "despotism" and "tyranny" are +inappropriate: the thing itself is new; and since I cannot name +it, I must attempt to define it. + +[Footnote a: See Appendix Y.] + +I seek to trace the novel features under which despotism may +appear in the world. The first thing that strikes the +observation is an innumerable multitude of men all equal and +alike, incessantly endeavoring to procure the petty and paltry +pleasures with which they glut their lives. Each of them, living +apart, is as a stranger to the fate of all the rest - his +children and his private friends constitute to him the whole of +mankind; as for the rest of his fellow-citizens, he is close to +them, but he sees them not - he touches them, but he feels them +not; he exists but in himself and for himself alone; and if his +kindred still remain to him, he may be said at any rate to have +lost his country. Above this race of men stands an immense and +tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their +gratifications, and to watch over their fate. That power is +absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like +the authority of a parent, if, like that authority, its object +was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks on the contrary to +keep them in perpetual childhood: it is well content that the +people should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but +rejoicing. For their happiness such a government willingly +labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter +of that happiness: it provides for their security, foresees and +supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages +their principal concerns, directs their industry, regulates the +descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances - what +remains, but to spare them all the care of thinking and all the +trouble of living? Thus it every day renders the exercise of the +free agency of man less useful and less frequent; it +circumscribes the will within a narrower range, and gradually +robs a man of all the uses of himself. The principle of equality +has prepared men for these things: it has predisposed men to +endure them, and oftentimes to look on them as benefits. + +After having thus successively taken each member of the +community in its powerful grasp, and fashioned them at will, the +supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It +covers the surface of society with a net-work of small +complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most +original minds and the most energetic characters cannot +penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not +shattered, but softened, bent, and guided: men are seldom forced +by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting: +such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does +not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and +stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to be nothing +better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which +the government is the shepherd. I have always thought that +servitude of the regular, quiet, and gentle kind which I have +just described, might be combined more easily than is commonly +believed with some of the outward forms of freedom; and that it +might even establish itself under the wing of the sovereignty of +the people. Our contemporaries are constantly excited by two +conflicting passions; they want to be led, and they wish to +remain free: as they cannot destroy either one or the other of +these contrary propensities, they strive to satisfy them both at +once. They devise a sole, tutelary, and all-powerful form of +government, but elected by the people. They combine the +principle of centralization and that of popular sovereignty; this +gives them a respite; they console themselves for being in +tutelage by the reflection that they have chosen their own +guardians. Every man allows himself to be put in leading-strings, +because he sees that it is not a person or a class of persons, +but the people at large that holds the end of his chain. By this +system the people shake off their state of dependence just long +enough to select their master, and then relapse into it again. A +great many persons at the present day are quite contented with +this sort of compromise between administrative despotism and the +sovereignty of the people; and they think they have done enough +for the protection of individual freedom when they have +surrendered it to the power of the nation at large. This does not +satisfy me: the nature of him I am to obey signifies less to me +than the fact of extorted obedience. + +I do not however deny that a constitution of this kind +appears to me to be infinitely preferable to one, which, after +having concentrated all the powers of government, should vest +them in the hands of an irresponsible person or body of persons. +Of all the forms which democratic despotism could assume, the +latter would assuredly be the worst. When the sovereign is +elective, or narrowly watched by a legislature which is really +elective and independent, the oppression which he exercises over +individuals is sometimes greater, but it is always less +degrading; because every man, when he is oppressed and disarmed, +may still imagine, that whilst he yields obedience it is to +himself he yields it, and that it is to one of his own +inclinations that all the rest give way. In like manner I can +understand that when the sovereign represents the nation, and is +dependent upon the people, the rights and the power of which +every citizen is deprived, not only serve the head of the State, +but the State itself; and that private persons derive some return +from the sacrifice of their independence which they have made to +the public. To create a representation of the people in every +centralized country, is therefore, to diminish the evil which +extreme centralization may produce, but not to get rid of it. I +admit that by this means room is left for the intervention of +individuals in the more important affairs; but it is not the less +suppressed in the smaller and more private ones. It must not be +forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the +minor details of life. For my own part, I should be inclined to +think freedom less necessary in great things than in little ones, +if it were possible to be secure of the one without possessing +the other. Subjection in minor affairs breaks out every day, and +is felt by the whole community indiscriminately. It does not +drive men to resistance, but it crosses them at every turn, till +they are led to surrender the exercise of their will. Thus their +spirit is gradually broken and their character enervated; whereas +that obedience, which is exacted on a few important but rare +occasions, only exhibits servitude at certain intervals, and +throws the burden of it upon a small number of men. It is in vain +to summon a people, which has been rendered so dependent on the +central power, to choose from time to time the representatives of +that power; this rare and brief exercise of their free choice, +however important it may be, will not prevent them from gradually +losing the faculties of thinking, feeling, and acting for +themselves, and thus gradually falling below the level of +humanity. *b I add that they will soon become incapable of +exercising the great and only privilege which remains to them. +The democratic nations which have introduced freedom into their +political constitution, at the very time when they were +augmenting the despotism of their administrative constitution, +have been led into strange paradoxes. To manage those minor +affairs in which good sense is all that is wanted - the people +are held to be unequal to the task, but when the government of +the country is at stake, the people are invested with immense +powers; they are alternately made the playthings of their ruler, +and his masters - more than kings, and less than men. After +having exhausted all the different modes of election, without +finding one to suit their purpose, they are still amazed, and +still bent on seeking further; as if the evil they remark did not +originate in the constitution of the country far more than in +that of the electoral body. It is, indeed, difficult to conceive +how men who have entirely given up the habit of self-government +should succeed in making a proper choice of those by whom they +are to be governed; and no one will ever believe that a liberal, +wise, and energetic government can spring from the suffrages of a +subservient people. A constitution, which should be republican +in its head and ultra- monarchical in all its other parts, has +ever appeared to me to be a short-lived monster. The vices of +rulers and the ineptitude of the people would speedily bring +about its ruin; and the nation, weary of its representatives and +of itself, would create freer institutions, or soon return to +stretch itself at the feet of a single master. + +[Footnote b: See Appendix Z.] + +Chapter VII: Continuation Of The Preceding Chapters + +I believe that it is easier to establish an absolute and +despotic government amongst a people in which the conditions of +society are equal, than amongst any other; and I think that if +such a government were once established amongst such a people, it +would not only oppress men, but would eventually strip each of +them of several of the highest qualities of humanity. Despotism +therefore appears to me peculiarly to be dreaded in democratic +ages. I should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times, but +in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it. On the +other hand, I am persuaded that all who shall attempt, in the +ages upon which we are entering, to base freedom upon +aristocratic privilege, will fail - that all who shall attempt to +draw and to retain authority within a single class, will fail. +At the present day no ruler is skilful or strong enough to found +a despotism, by re-establishing permanent distinctions of rank +amongst his subjects: no legislator is wise or powerful enough to +preserve free institutions, if he does not take equality for his +first principle and his watchword. All those of our +contemporaries who would establish or secure the independence and +the dignity of their fellow-men, must show themselves the friends +of equality; and the only worthy means of showing themselves as +such, is to be so: upon this depends the success of their holy +enterprise. Thus the question is not how to reconstruct +aristocratic society, but how to make liberty proceed out of that +democratic state of society in which God has placed us. + +These two truths appear to me simple, clear, and fertile in +consequences; and they naturally lead me to consider what kind of +free government can be established amongst a people in which +social conditions are equal. It results from the very +constitution of democratic nations and from their necessities, +that the power of government amongst them must be more uniform, +more centralized, more extensive, more searching, and more +efficient than in other countries. Society at large is naturally +stronger and more active, individuals more subordinate and weak; +the former does more, the latter less; and this is inevitably the +case. It is not therefore to be expected that the range of +private independence will ever be as extensive in democratic as +in aristocratic countries - nor is this to be desired; for, +amongst aristocratic nations, the mass is often sacrificed to the +individual, and the prosperity of the greater number to the +greatness of the few. It is both necessary and desirable that +the government of a democratic people should be active and +powerful: and our object should not be to render it weak or +indolent, but solely to prevent it from abusing its aptitude and +its strength. + +The circumstance which most contributed to secure the +independence of private persons in aristocratic ages, was, that +the supreme power did not affect to take upon itself alone the +government and administration of the community; those functions +were necessarily partially left to the members of the +aristocracy: so that as the supreme power was always divided, it +never weighed with its whole weight and in the same manner on +each individual. Not only did the government not perform +everything by its immediate agency; but as most of the agents who +discharged its duties derived their power not from the State, but +from the circumstance of their birth, they were not perpetually +under its control. The government could not make or unmake them +in an instant, at pleasure, nor bend them in strict uniformity to +its slightest caprice - this was an additional guarantee of +private independence. I readily admit that recourse cannot be had +to the same means at the present time: but I discover certain +democratic expedients which may be substituted for them. Instead +of vesting in the government alone all the administrative powers +of which corporations and nobles have been deprived, a portion of +them may be entrusted to secondary public bodies, temporarily +composed of private citizens: thus the liberty of private persons +will be more secure, and their equality will not be diminished. + +The Americans, who care less for words than the French, +still designate by the name of "county" the largest of their +administrative districts: but the duties of the count or lord- +lieutenant are in part performed by a provincial assembly. At a +period of equality like our own it would be unjust and +unreasonable to institute hereditary officers; but there is +nothing to prevent us from substituting elective public officers +to a certain extent. Election is a democratic expedient which +insures the independence of the public officer in relation to the +government, as much and even more than hereditary rank can insure +it amongst aristocratic nations. Aristocratic countries abound +in wealthy and influential persons who are competent to provide +for themselves, and who cannot be easily or secretly oppressed: +such persons restrain a government within general habits of +moderation and reserve. I am very well aware that democratic +countries contain no such persons naturally; but something +analogous to them may be created by artificial means. I firmly +believe that an aristocracy cannot again be founded in the world; +but I think that private citizens, by combining together, may +constitute bodies of great wealth, influence, and strength, +corresponding to the persons of an aristocracy. By this means +many of the greatest political advantages of aristocracy would be +obtained without its injustice or its dangers. An association +for political, commercial, or manufacturing purposes, or even for +those of science and literature, is a powerful and enlightened +member of the community, which cannot be disposed of at pleasure, +or oppressed without remonstrance; and which, by defending its +own rights against the encroachments of the government, saves the +common liberties of the country. + +In periods of aristocracy every man is always bound so +closely to many of his fellow-citizens, that he cannot be +assailed without their coming to his assistance. In ages of +equality every man naturally stands alone; he has no hereditary +friends whose co- operation he may demand - no class upon whose +sympathy he may rely: he is easily got rid of, and he is trampled +on with impunity. At the present time, an oppressed member of +the community has therefore only one method of self-defence - he +may appeal to the whole nation; and if the whole nation is deaf +to his complaint, he may appeal to mankind: the only means he has +of making this appeal is by the press. Thus the liberty of the +press is infinitely more valuable amongst democratic nations than +amongst all others; it is the only cure for the evils which +equality may produce. Equality sets men apart and weakens them; +but the press places a powerful weapon within every man's reach, +which the weakest and loneliest of them all may use. Equality +deprives a man of the support of his connections; but the press +enables him to summon all his fellow- countrymen and all his +fellow-men to his assistance. Printing has accelerated the +progress of equality, and it is also one of its best correctives. + +I think that men living in aristocracies may, strictly +speaking, do without the liberty of the press: but such is not +the case with those who live in democratic countries. To protect +their personal independence I trust not to great political +assemblies, to parliamentary privilege, or to the assertion of +popular sovereignty. All these things may, to a certain extent, +be reconciled with personal servitude - but that servitude cannot +be complete if the press is free: the press is the chiefest +democratic instrument of freedom. + +Something analogous may be said of the judicial power. It +is a part of the essence of judicial power to attend to private +interests, and to fix itself with predilection on minute objects +submitted to its observation; another essential quality of +judicial power is never to volunteer its assistance to the +oppressed, but always to be at the disposal of the humblest of +those who solicit it; their complaint, however feeble they may +themselves be, will force itself upon the ear of justice and +claim redress, for this is inherent in the very constitution of +the courts of justice. A power of this kind is therefore +peculiarly adapted to the wants of freedom, at a time when the +eye and finger of the government are constantly intruding into +the minutest details of human actions, and when private persons +are at once too weak to protect themselves, and too much isolated +for them to reckon upon the assistance of their fellows. The +strength of the courts of law has ever been the greatest security +which can be offered to personal independence; but this is more +especially the case in democratic ages: private rights and +interests are in constant danger, if the judicial power does not +grow more extensive and more strong to keep pace with the growing +equality of conditions. + +Equality awakens in men several propensities extremely +dangerous to freedom, to which the attention of the legislator +ought constantly to be directed. I shall only remind the reader +of the most important amongst them. Men living in democratic ages +do not readily comprehend the utility of forms: they feel an +instinctive contempt for them - I have elsewhere shown for what +reasons. Forms excite their contempt and often their hatred; as +they commonly aspire to none but easy and present gratifications, +they rush onwards to the object of their desires, and the +slightest delay exasperates them. This same temper, carried with +them into political life, renders them hostile to forms, which +perpetually retard or arrest them in some of their projects. Yet +this objection which the men of democracies make to forms is the +very thing which renders forms so useful to freedom; for their +chief merit is to serve as a barrier between the strong and the +weak, the ruler and the people, to retard the one, and give the +other time to look about him. Forms become more necessary in +proportion as the government becomes more active and more +powerful, whilst private persons are becoming more indolent and +more feeble. Thus democratic nations naturally stand more in need +of forms than other nations, and they naturally respect them +less. This deserves most serious attention. Nothing is more +pitiful than the arrogant disdain of most of our contemporaries +for questions of form; for the smallest questions of form have +acquired in our time an importance which they never had before: +many of the greatest interests of mankind depend upon them. I +think that if the statesmen of aristocratic ages could sometimes +contemn forms with impunity, and frequently rise above them, the +statesmen to whom the government of nations is now confided ought +to treat the very least among them with respect, and not neglect +them without imperious necessity. In aristocracies the +observance of forms was superstitious; amongst us they ought to +be kept with a deliberate and enlightened deference. + +Another tendency, which is extremely natural to democratic +nations and extremely dangerous, is that which leads them ta +despise and undervalue the rights of private persons. The +attachment which men feel to a right, and the respect which they +display for it, is generally proportioned to its importance, or +to the length of time during which they have enjoyed it. The +rights of private persons amongst democratic nations are commonly +of small importance, of recent growth, and extremely precarious - +the consequence is that they are often sacrificed without regret, +and almost always violated without remorse. But it happens that +at the same period and amongst the same nations in which men +conceive a natural contempt for the rights of private persons, +the rights of society at large are naturally extended and +consolidated: in other words, men become less attached to private +rights at the very time at which it would be most necessary to +retain and to defend what little remains of them. It is +therefore most especially in the present democratic ages, that +the true friends of the liberty and the greatness of man ought +constantly to be on the alert to prevent the power of government +from lightly sacrificing the private rights of individuals to the +general execution of its designs. At such times no citizen is so +obscure that it is not very dangerous to allow him to be +oppressed - no private rights are so unimportant that they can be +surrendered with impunity to the caprices of a government. The +reason is plain: - if the private right of an individual is +violated at a time when the human mind is fully impressed with +the importance and the sanctity of such rights, the injury done +is confined to the individual whose right is infringed; but to +violate such a right, at the present day, is deeply to corrupt +the manners of the nation and to put the whole community in +jeopardy, because the very notion of this kind of right +constantly tends amongst us to be impaired and lost. + +There are certain habits, certain notions, and certain vices +which are peculiar to a state of revolution, and which a +protracted revolution cannot fail to engender and to propagate, +whatever be, in other respects, its character, its purpose, and +the scene on which it takes place. When any nation has, within a +short space of time, repeatedly varied its rulers, its opinions, +and its laws, the men of whom it is composed eventually contract +a taste for change, and grow accustomed to see all changes +effected by sudden violence. Thus they naturally conceive a +contempt for forms which daily prove ineffectual; and they do not +support without impatience the dominion of rules which they have +so often seen infringed. As the ordinary notions of equity and +morality no longer suffice to explain and justify all the +innovations daily begotten by a revolution, the principle of +public utility is called in, the doctrine of political necessity +is conjured up, and men accustom themselves to sacrifice private +interests without scruple, and to trample on the rights of +individuals in order more speedily to accomplish any public +purpose. + +These habits and notions, which I shall call revolutionary, +because all revolutions produce them, occur in aristocracies just +as much as amongst democratic nations; but amongst the former +they are often less powerful and always less lasting, because +there they meet with habits, notions, defects, and impediments, +which counteract them: they consequently disappear as soon as the +revolution is terminated, and the nation reverts to its former +political courses. This is not always the case in democratic +countries, in which it is ever to be feared that revolutionary +tendencies, becoming more gentle and more regular, without +entirely disappearing from society, will be gradually transformed +into habits of subjection to the administrative authority of the +government. I know of no countries in which revolutions re more +dangerous than in democratic countries; because, independently of +the accidental and transient evils which must always attend them, +they may always create some evils which are permanent and +unending. I believe that there are such things as justifiable +resistance and legitimate rebellion: I do not therefore assert, +as an absolute proposition, that the men of democratic ages ought +never to make revolutions; but I think that they have especial +reason to hesitate before they embark in them, and that it is far +better to endure many grievances in their present condition than +to have recourse to so perilous a remedy. + +I shall conclude by one general idea, which comprises not +only all the particular ideas which have been expressed in the +present chapter, but also most of those which it is the object of +this book to treat of. In the ages of aristocracy which preceded +our own, there were private persons of great power, and a social +authority of extreme weakness. The outline of society itself was +not easily discernible, and constantly confounded with the +different powers by which the community was ruled. The principal +efforts of the men of those times were required to strengthen, +aggrandize, and secure the supreme power; and on the other hand, +to circumscribe individual independence within narrower limits, +and to subject private interests to the interests of the public. +Other perils and other cares await the men of our age. Amongst +the greater part of modern nations, the government, whatever may +be its origin, its constitution, or its name, has become almost +omnipotent, and private persons are falling, more and more, into +the lowest stage of weakness and dependence. In olden society +everything was different; unity and uniformity were nowhere to be +met with. In modern society everything threatens to become so +much alike, that the peculiar characteristics of each individual +will soon be entirely lost in the general aspect of the world. +Our forefathers were ever prone to make an improper use of the +notion, that private rights ought to be respected; and we are +naturally prone on the other hand to exaggerate the idea that the +interest of a private individual ought always to bend to the +interest of the many. The political world is metamorphosed: new +remedies must henceforth be sought for new disorders. To lay +down extensive, but distinct and settled limits, to the action of +the government; to confer certain rights on private persons, and +to secure to them the undisputed enjoyment of those rights; to +enable individual man to maintain whatever independence, +strength, and original power he still possesses; to raise him by +the side of society at large, and uphold him in that position - +these appear to me the main objects of legislators in the ages +upon which we are now entering. It would seem as if the rulers +of our time sought only to use men in order to make things great; +I wish that they would try a little more to make great men; that +they would set less value on the work, and more upon the workman; +that they would never forget that a nation cannot long remain +strong when every man belonging to it is individually weak, and +that no form or combination of social polity has yet been +devised, to make an energetic people out of a community of +pusillanimous and enfeebled citizens. + +I trace amongst our contemporaries two contrary notions +which are equally injurious. One set of men can perceive nothing +in the principle of equality but the anarchical tendencies which +it engenders: they dread their own free agency - they fear +themselves. Other thinkers, less numerous but more enlightened, +take a different view: besides that track which starts from the +principle of equality to terminate in anarchy, they have at last +discovered the road which seems to lead men to inevitable +servitude. They shape their souls beforehand to this necessary +condition; and, despairing of remaining free, they already do +obeisance in their hearts to the master who is soon to appear. +The former abandon freedom, because they think it dangerous; the +latter, because they hold it to be impossible. If I had +entertained the latter conviction, I should not have written this +book, but I should have confined myself to deploring in secret +the destiny of mankind. I have sought to point out the dangers to +which the principle of equality exposes the independence of man, +because I firmly believe that these dangers are the most +formidable, as well as the least foreseen, of all those which +futurity holds in store: but I do not think that they are +insurmountable. The men who live in the democratic ages upon +which we are entering have naturally a taste for independence: +they are naturally impatient of regulation, and they are wearied +by the permanence even of the condition they themselves prefer. +They are fond of power; but they are prone to despise and hate +those who wield it, and they easily elude its grasp by their own +mobility and insignificance. These propensities will always +manifest themselves, because they originate in the groundwork of +society, which will undergo no change: for a long time they will +prevent the establishment of any despotism, and they will furnish +fresh weapons to each succeeding generation which shall struggle +in favor of the liberty of mankind. Let us then look forward to +the future with that salutary fear which makes men keep watch and +ward for freedom, not with that faint and idle terror which +depresses and enervates the heart. + + +Book Four - Chapter VIII + +Chapter VIII: General Survey Of The Subject + +Before I close forever the theme that has detained me so +long, I would fain take a parting survey of all the various +characteristics of modern society, and appreciate at last the +general influence to be exercised by the principle of equality +upon the fate of mankind; but I am stopped by the difficulty of +the task, and in presence of so great an object my sight is +troubled, and my reason fails. The society of the modern world +which I have sought to delineate, and which I seek to judge, has +but just come into existence. Time has not yet shaped it into +perfect form: the great revolution by which it has been created +is not yet over: and amidst the occurrences of our time, it is +almost impossible to discern what will pass away with the +revolution itself, and what will survive its close. The world +which is rising into existence is still half encumbered by the +remains of the world which is waning into decay; and amidst the +vast perplexity of human affairs, none can say how much of +ancient institutions and former manners will remain, or how much +will completely disappear. Although the revolution which is +taking place in the social condition, the laws, the opinions, and +the feelings of men, is still very far from being terminated, yet +its results already admit of no comparison with anything that the +world has ever before witnessed. I go back from age to age up to +the remotest antiquity; but I find no parallel to what is +occurring before my eyes: as the past has ceased to throw its +light upon the future, the mind of man wanders in obscurity. +Nevertheless, in the midst of a prospect so wide, so novel +and so confused, some of the more prominent characteristics may +already be discerned and pointed out. The good things and the +evils of life are more equally distributed in the world: great +wealth tends to disappear, the number of small fortunes to +increase; desires and gratifications are multiplied, but +extraordinary prosperity and irremediable penury are alike +unknown. The sentiment of ambition is universal, but the scope +of ambition is seldom vast. Each individual stands apart in +solitary weakness; but society at large is active, provident, and +powerful: the performances of private persons are insignificant, +those of the State immense. There is little energy of character; +but manners are mild, and laws humane. If there be few instances +of exalted heroism or of virtues of the highest, brightest, and +purest temper, men's habits are regular, violence is rare, and +cruelty almost unknown. Human existence becomes longer, and +property more secure: life is not adorned with brilliant +trophies, but it is extremely easy and tranquil. Few pleasures +are either very refined or very coarse; and highly polished +manners are as uncommon as great brutality of tastes. Neither +men of great learning, nor extremely ignorant communities, are to +be met with; genius becomes more rare, information more diffused. +The human mind is impelled by the small efforts of all mankind +combined together, not by the strenuous activity of certain men. +There is less perfection, but more abundance, in all the +productions of the arts. The ties of race, of rank, and of +country are relaxed; the great bond of humanity is strengthened. +If I endeavor to find out the most general and the most prominent +of all these different characteristics, I shall have occasion to +perceive, that what is taking place in men's fortunes manifests +itself under a thousand other forms. Almost all extremes are +softened or blunted: all that was most prominent is superseded by +some mean term, at once less lofty and less low, less brilliant +and less obscure, than what before existed in the world. + +When I survey this countless multitude of beings, shaped in +each other's likeness, amidst whom nothing rises and nothing +falls, the sight of such universal uniformity saddens and chills +me, and I am tempted to regret that state of society which has +ceased to be. When the world was full of men of great importance +and extreme insignificance, of great wealth and extreme poverty, +of great learning and extreme ignorance, I turned aside from the +latter to fix my observation on the former alone, who gratified +my sympathies. But I admit that this gratification arose from my +own weakness: it is because I am unable to see at once all that +is around me, that I am allowed thus to select and separate the +objects of my predilection from among so many others. Such is not +the case with that almighty and eternal Being whose gaze +necessarily includes the whole of created things, and who surveys +distinctly, though at once, mankind and man. We may naturally +believe that it is not the singular prosperity of the few, but +the greater well-being of all, which is most pleasing in the +sight of the Creator and Preserver of men. What appears to me to +be man's decline, is to His eye advancement; what afflicts me is +acceptable to Him. A state of equality is perhaps less elevated, +but it is more just; and its justice constitutes its greatness +and its beauty. I would strive then to raise myself to this +point of the divine contemplation, and thence to view and to +judge the concerns of men. + +No man, upon the earth, can as yet affirm absolutely and +generally, that the new state of the world is better than its +former one; but it is already easy to perceive that this state is +different. Some vices and some virtues were so inherent in the +constitution of an aristocratic nation, and are so opposite to +the character of a modern people, that they can never be infused +into it; some good tendencies and some bad propensities which +were unknown to the former, are natural to the latter; some ideas +suggest themselves spontaneously to the imagination of the one, +which are utterly repugnant to the mind of the other. They are +like two distinct orders of human beings, each of which has its +own merits and defects, its own advantages and its own evils. +Care must therefore be taken not to judge the state of society, +which is now coming into existence, by notions derived from a +state of society which no longer exists; for as these states of +society are exceedingly different in their structure, they cannot +be submitted to a just or fair comparison. It would be scarcely +more reasonable to require of our own contemporaries the peculiar +virtues which originated in the social condition of their +forefathers, since that social condition is itself fallen, and +has drawn into one promiscuous ruin the good and evil which +belonged to it. + +But as yet these things are imperfectly understood. I find +that a great number of my contemporaries undertake to make a +certain selection from amongst the institutions, the opinions, +and the ideas which originated in the aristocratic constitution +of society as it was: a portion of these elements they would +willingly relinquish, but they would keep the remainder and +transplant them into their new world. I apprehend that such men +are wasting their time and their strength in virtuous but +unprofitable efforts. The object is not to retain the peculiar +advantages which the inequality of conditions bestows upon +mankind, but to secure the new benefits which equality may +supply. We have not to seek to make ourselves like our +progenitors, but to strive to work out that species of greatness +and happiness which is our own. For myself, who now look back +from this extreme limit of my task, and discover from afar, but +at once, the various objects which have attracted my more +attentive investigation upon my way, I am full of apprehensions +and of hopes. I perceive mighty dangers which it is possible to +ward off - mighty evils which may be avoided or alleviated; and I +cling with a firmer hold to the belief, that for democratic +nations to be virtuous and prosperous they require but to will +it. I am aware that many of my contemporaries maintain that +nations are never their own masters here below, and that they +necessarily obey some insurmountable and unintelligent power, +arising from anterior events, from their race, or from the +soil and climate of their country. Such principles are false and +cowardly; such principles can never produce aught but feeble men +and pusillanimous nations. Providence has not created mankind +entirely independent or entirely free. It is true that around +every man a fatal circle is traced, beyond which he cannot pass; +but within the wide verge of that circle he is powerful and free: +as it is with man, so with communities. The nations of our time +cannot prevent the conditions of men from becoming equal; but it +depends upon themselves whether the principle of equality is to +lead them to servitude or freedom, to knowledge or barbarism, to +prosperity or to wretchedness. + + +Part I. + +Appendix A + +For information concerning all the countries of the West +which have not been visited by Europeans, consult the account of +two expeditions undertaken at the expense of Congress by Major +Long. This traveller particularly mentions, on the subject of +the great American desert, that a line may be drawn nearly +parallel to the 20th degree of longitude *a (meridian of +Washington), beginning from the Red River and ending at the River +Platte. From this imaginary line to the Rocky Mountains, which +bound the valley of the Mississippi on the west, lie immense +plains, which are almost entirely covered with sand, incapable of +cultivation, or scattered over with masses of granite. In summer, +these plains are quite destitute of water, and nothing is to be +seen on them but herds of buffaloes and wild horses. Some hordes +of Indians are also found there, but in no great numbers. Major +Long was told that in travelling northwards from the River Platte +you find the same desert lying constantly on the left; but he was +unable to ascertain the truth of this report. However worthy of +confidence may be the narrative of Major Long, it must be +remembered that he only passed through the country of which he +speaks, without deviating widely from the line which he had +traced out for his journey. + +[Footnote a: The 20th degree of longitude, according to the +meridian of Washington, agrees very nearly with the 97th degree +on the meridian of Greenwich.] + +Appendix B + +South America, in the region between the tropics, produces +an incredible profusion of climbing plants, of which the flora of +the Antilles alone presents us with forty different species. +Among the most graceful of these shrubs is the passion-flower, +which, according to Descourtiz, grows with such luxuriance in the +Antilles, as to climb trees by means of the tendrils with which +it is provided, and form moving bowers of rich and elegant +festoons, decorated with blue and purple flowers, and fragrant +with perfume. The Mimosa scandens (Acacia a grandes gousses) is +a creeper of enormous and rapid growth, which climbs from tree to +tree, and sometimes covers more than half a league. + +Appendix C + +The languages which are spoken by the Indians of America, +from the Pole to Cape Horn, are said to be all formed upon the +same model, and subject to the same grammatical rules; whence it +may fairly be concluded that all the Indian nations sprang from +the same stock. Each tribe of the American continent speaks a +different dialect; but the number of languages, properly so +called, is very small, a fact which tends to prove that the +nations of the New World had not a very remote origin. Moreover, +the languages of America have a great degree of regularity, from +which it seems probable that the tribes which employ them had not +undergone any great revolutions, or been incorporated voluntarily +or by constraint, with foreign nations. For it is generally the +union of several languages into one which produces grammatical +irregularities. It is not long since the American languages, +especially those of the North, first attracted the serious +attention of philologists, when the discovery was made that this +idiom of a barbarous people was the product of a complicated +system of ideas and very learned combinations. These languages +were found to be very rich, and great pains had been taken at +their formation to render them agreeable to the ear. The +grammatical system of the Americans differs from all others in +several points, but especially in the following: - +Some nations of Europe, amongst others the Germans, have the +power of combining at pleasure different expressions, and thus +giving a complex sense to certain words. The Indians have given +a most surprising extension to this power, so as to arrive at the +means of connecting a great number of ideas with a single term. +This will be easily understood with the help of an example quoted +by Mr. Duponceau, in the "Memoirs of the Philosophical Society of +America": A Delaware woman playing with a cat or a young dog, +says this writer, is heard to pronounce the word kuligatschis, +which is thus composed: k is the sign of the second person, and +signifies "thou" or "thy"; uli is a part of the word wulit, which +signifies "beautiful," "pretty"; gat is another fragment, of the +word wichgat, which means "paw"; and, lastly, schis is a +diminutive giving the idea of smallness. Thus in one word the +Indian woman has expressed "Thy pretty little paw." Take another +example of the felicity with which the savages of America have +composed their words. A young man of Delaware is called pilape. +This word is formed from pilsit, "chaste," "innocent"; and +lenape, "man"; viz., "man in his purity and innocence." This +facility of combining words is most remarkable in the strange +formation of their verbs. The most complex action is often +expressed by a single verb, which serves to convey all the shades +of an idea by the modification of its construction. Those who +may wish to examine more in detail this subject, which I have +only glanced at superficially, should read: - + +1. The correspondence of Mr. Duponceau and the Rev. Mr. +Hecwelder relative to the Indian languages, which is to be found +in the first volume of the "Memoirs of the Philosophical Society +of America," published at Philadelphia, 1819, by Abraham Small; +vol. i. p. 356-464. + +2. The "Grammar of the Delaware or the Lenape Language," by +Geiberger, and the preface of Mr. Duponceau. All these are in +the same collection, vol. iii. + +3. An excellent account of these works, which is at the end +of the sixth volume of the American Encyclopaedia. + +Appendix D + +See in Charlevoix, vol. i. p. 235, the history of the first +war which the French inhabitants of Canada carried on, in 1610, +against the Iroquois. The latter, armed with bows and arrows, +offered a desperate resistance to the French and their allies. +Charlevoix is not a great painter, yet he exhibits clearly +enough, in this narrative, the contrast between the European +manners and those of savages, as well as the different way in +which the two races of men understood the sense of honor. When +the French, says he, seized upon the beaver-skins which covered +the Indians who had fallen, the Hurons, their allies, were +greatly offended at this proceeding; but without hesitation they +set to work in their usual manner, inflicting horrid cruelties +upon the prisoners, and devouring one of those who had been +killed, which made the Frenchmen shudder. The barbarians prided +themselves upon a scrupulousness which they were surprised at not +finding in our nation, and could not understand that there was +less to reprehend in the stripping of dead bodies than in the +devouring of their flesh like wild beasts. Charlevoix, in +another place (vol. i. p. 230), thus describes the first torture +of which Champlain was an eyewitness, and the return of the +Hurons into their own village. Having proceeded about eight +leagues, says he, our allies halted; and having singled out one +of their captives, they reproached him with all the cruelties +which he had practised upon the warriors of their nation who had +fallen into his hands, and told him that he might expect to be +treated in like manner; adding, that if he had any spirit he +would prove it by singing. He immediately chanted forth his +death-song, and then his war-song, and all the songs he knew, +"but in a very mournful strain," says Champlain, who was not then +aware that all savage music has a melancholy character. The +tortures which succeeded, accompanied by all the horrors which we +shall mention hereafter, terrified the French, who made every +effort to put a stop to them, but in vain. The following night, +one of the Hurons having dreamt that they were pursued, the +retreat was changed to a real flight, and the savages never +stopped until they were out of the reach of danger. The moment +they perceived the cabins of their own village, they cut +themselves long sticks, to which they fastened the scalps which +had fallen to their share, and carried them in triumph. At this +sight, the women swam to the canoes, where they received the +bloody scalps from the hands of their husbands, and tied them +round their necks. The warriors offered one of these horrible +trophies to Champlain; they also presented him with some bows and +arrows - the only spoils of the Iroquois which they had ventured +to seize - entreating him to show them to the King of France. +Champlain lived a whole winter quite alone among these +barbarians, without being under any alarm for his person or +property. + +Appendix E + +Although the Puritanical strictness which presided over the +establishment of the English colonies in America is now much +relaxed, remarkable traces of it are still found in their habits +and their laws. In 1792, at the very time when the +anti-Christian republic of France began its ephemeral existence, +the legislative body of Massachusetts promulgated the following +law, to compel the citizens to observe the Sabbath. We give the +preamble and the principal articles of this law, which is worthy +of the reader's attention: "Whereas," says the legislator, "the +observation of the Sunday is an affair of public interest; +inasmuch as it produces a necessary suspension of labor, leads +men to reflect upon the duties of life, and the errors to which +human nature is liable, and provides for the public and private +worship of God, the creator and governor of the universe, and for +the performance of such acts of charity as are the ornament and +comfort of Christian societies: - Whereas irreligious or +light-minded persons, forgetting the duties which the Sabbath +imposes, and the benefits which these duties confer on society, +are known to profane its sanctity, by following their pleasures +or their affairs; this way of acting being contrary to their own +interest as Christians, and calculated to annoy those who do not +follow their example; being also of great injury to society at +large, by spreading a taste for dissipation and dissolute +manners; Be it enacted and ordained by the Governor, Council, and +Representatives convened in General Court of Assembly, that all +and every person and persons shall on that day carefully apply +themselves to the duties of religion and piety, that no tradesman +or labourer shall exercise his ordinary calling, and that no game +or recreation shall be used on the Lord's Day, upon pain of +forfeiting ten shillings. + +"That no one shall travel on that day, or any part thereof, +under pain of forfeiting twenty shillings; that no vessel shall +leave a harbour of the colony; that no persons shall keep outside +the meeting-house during the time of public worship, or profane +the time by playing or talking, on penalty of five shillings. + +"Public-houses shall not entertain any other than strangers +or lodgers, under penalty of five shillings for every person +found drinking and abiding therein. + +"Any person in health, who, without sufficient reason, shall +omit to worship God in public during three months, shall be +condemned to a fine of ten shillings. + +"Any person guilty of misbehaviour in a place of public +worship, shall be fined from five to forty shillings. + +"These laws are to be enforced by the tything-men of each +township, who have authority to visit public-houses on the +Sunday. The innkeeper who shall refuse them admittance, shall be +fined forty shillings for such offence. + +"The tything-men are to stop travellers, and require of them +their reason for being on the road on Sunday; anyone refusing to +answer, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five +pounds sterling. If the reason given by the traveller be not +deemed by the tything-man sufficient, he may bring the traveller +before the justice of the peace of the district." (Law of March +8, 1792; General Laws of Massachusetts, vol. i. p. 410.) + +On March 11, 1797, a new law increased the amount of fines, +half of which was to be given to the informer. (Same collection, +vol. ii. p. 525.) On February 16, 1816, a new law confirmed these +same measures. (Same collection, vol. ii. p. 405.) Similar +enactments exist in the laws of the State of New York, revised in +1827 and 1828. (See Revised Statutes, Part I. chapter 20, p. +675.) In these it is declared that no one is allowed on the +Sabbath to sport, to fish, to play at games, or to frequent +houses where liquor is sold. No one can travel, except in case +of necessity. And this is not the only trace which the religious +strictness and austere manners of the first emigrants have left +behind them in the American laws. In the Revised Statutes of the +State of New York, vol. i. p. 662, is the following clause: - + +"Whoever shall win or lose in the space of twenty-four +hours, by gaming or betting, the sum of twenty-five dollars, +shall be found guilty of a misdemeanour, and upon conviction +shall be condemned to pay a fine equal to at least five times the +value of the sum lost or won; which shall be paid to the +inspector of the poor of the township. He that loses twenty-five +dollars or more may bring an action to recover them; and if he +neglects to do so the inspector of the poor may prosecute the +winner, and oblige him to pay into the poor's box both the sum he +has gained and three times as much besides." + +The laws we quote from are of recent date; but they are +unintelligible without going back to the very origin of the +colonies. I have no doubt that in our days the penal part of +these laws is very rarely applied. Laws preserve their +inflexibility, long after the manners of a nation have yielded to +the influence of time. It is still true, however, that nothing +strikes a foreigner on his arrival in America more forcibly than +the regard paid to the Sabbath. There is one, in particular, of +the large American cities, in which all social movements begin to +be suspended even on Saturday evening. You traverse its streets +at the hour at which you expect men in the middle of life to be +engaged in business, and young people in pleasure; and you meet +with solitude and silence. Not only have all ceased to work, but +they appear to have ceased to exist. Neither the movements of +industry are heard, nor the accents of joy, nor even the confused +murmur which arises from the midst of a great city. Chains are +hung across the streets in the neighborhood of the churches; the +half-closed shutters of the houses scarcely admit a ray of sun +into the dwellings of the citizens. Now and then you perceive a +solitary individual who glides silently along the deserted +streets and lanes. Next day, at early dawn, the rolling of +carriages, the noise of hammers, the cries of the population, +begin to make themselves heard again. The city is awake. An +eager crowd hastens towards the resort of commerce and industry; +everything around you bespeaks motion, bustle, hurry. A feverish +activity succeeds to the lethargic stupor of yesterday; you might +almost suppose that they had but one day to acquire wealth and to +enjoy it. + +Appendix F + +It is unnecessary for me to say, that in the chapter which +has just been read, I have not had the intention of giving a +history of America. My only object was to enable the reader to +appreciate the influence which the opinions and manners of the +first emigrants had exercised upon the fate of the different +colonies, and of the Union in general. I have therefore confined +myself to the quotation of a few detached fragments. I do not +know whether I am deceived, but it appears to me that, by +pursuing the path which I have merely pointed out, it would be +easy to present such pictures of the American republics as would +not be unworthy the attention of the public, and could not fail +to suggest to the statesman matter for reflection. Not being +able to devote myself to this labor, I am anxious to render it +easy to others; and, for this purpose, I subjoin a short +catalogue and analysis of the works which seem to me the most +important to consult. + +At the head of the general documents which it would be +advantageous to examine I place the work entitled "An Historical +Collection of State Papers, and other authentic Documents, +intended as Materials for a History of the United States of +America," by Ebenezer Hasard. The first volume of this +compilation, which was printed at Philadelphia in 1792, contains +a literal copy of all the charters granted by the Crown of +England to the emigrants, as well as the principal acts of the +colonial governments, during the commencement of their existence. +Amongst other authentic documents, we here find a great many +relating to the affairs of New England and Virginia during this +period. The second volume is almost entirely devoted to the acts +of the Confederation of 1643. This federal compact, which was +entered into by the colonies of New England with the view of +resisting the Indians, was the first instance of union afforded +by the Anglo-Americans. There were besides many other +confederations of the same nature, before the famous one of 1776, +which brought about the independence of the colonies. + +Each colony has, besides, its own historic monuments, some +of which are extremely curious; beginning with Virginia, the +State which was first peopled. The earliest historian of Virginia +was its founder, Captain John Smith. Captain Smith has left us an +octavo volume, entitled "The generall Historie of Virginia and +New England, by Captain John Smith, sometymes Governor in those +Countryes, and Admirall of New England"; printed at London in +1627. The work is adorned with curious maps and engravings of +the time when it appeared; the narrative extends from the year +1584 to 1626. Smith's work is highly and deservedly esteemed. +The author was one of the most celebrated adventurers of a period +of remarkable adventure; his book breathes that ardor for +discovery, that spirit of enterprise, which characterized the men +of his time, when the manners of chivalry were united to zeal for +commerce, and made subservient to the acquisition of wealth. But +Captain Smith is most remarkable for uniting to the virtues which +characterized his contemporaries several qualities to which they +were generally strangers; his style is simple and concise, his +narratives bear the stamp of truth, and his descriptions are free +from false ornament. This author throws most valuable light upon +the state and condition of the Indians at the time when North +America was first discovered. + +The second historian to consult is Beverley, who commences +his narrative with the year 1585, and ends it with 1700. The +first part of his book contains historical documents, properly so +called, relative to the infancy of the colony. The second +affords a most curious picture of the state of the Indians at +this remote period. The third conveys very clear ideas +concerning the manners, social conditions, laws, and political +customs of the Virginians in the author's lifetime. Beverley was +a native of Virginia, which occasions him to say at the beginning +of his book, that he entreats his readers not to exercise their +critical severity upon it, since, having been born in the Indies, +he does not aspire to purity of language. Notwithstanding this +colonial modesty, the author shows throughout his book the +impatience with which he endures the supremacy of the +mother-country. In this work of Beverley are also found numerous +traces of that spirit of civil liberty which animated the English +colonies of America at the time when he wrote. He also shows the +dissensions which existed among them, and retarded their +independence. Beverley detests his Catholic neighbors of +Maryland even more than he hates the English government: his +style is simple, his narrative interesting, and apparently +trustworthy. + +I saw in America another work which ought to be consulted, +entitled "The History of Virginia," by William Stith. This book +affords some curious details, but I thought it long and diffuse. +The most ancient as well as the best document to be +consulted on the history of Carolina, is a work in small quarto, +entitled "The History of Carolina," by John Lawson, printed at +London in 1718. This work contains, in the first part, a journey +of discovery in the west of Carolina; the account of which, given +in the form of a journal, is in general confused and superficial; +but it contains a very striking description of the mortality +caused among the savages of that time both by the smallpox and +the immoderate use of brandy; with a curious picture of the +corruption of manners prevalent amongst them, which was increased +by the presence of Europeans. The second part of Lawson's book +is taken up with a description of the physical condition of +Carolina, and its productions. In the third part, the author +gives an interesting account of the manners, customs, and +government of the Indians at that period. There is a good deal +of talent and originality in this part of the work. Lawson +concludes his history with a copy of the charter granted to the +Carolinas in the reign of Charles II. The general tone of this +work is light, and often licentious, forming a perfect contrast +to the solemn style of the works published at the same period in +New England. Lawson's history is extremely scarce in America, and +cannot be procured in Europe. There is, however, a copy of it in +the Royal Library at Paris. + +From the southern extremity of the United States, I pass at +once to the northern limit; as the intermediate space was not +peopled till a later period. I must first point out a very +curious compilation, entitled "Collection of the Massachusetts +Historical Society," printed for the first time at Boston in +1792, and reprinted in 1806. The collection of which I speak, +and which is continued to the present day, contains a great +number of very valuable documents relating to the history of the +different States in New England. Among them are letters which +have never been published, and authentic pieces which had been +buried in provincial archives. The whole work of Gookin, +concerning the Indians, is inserted there. + +I have mentioned several times in the chapter to which this +note relates, the work of Nathaniel Norton entitled "New +England's Memorial"; sufficiently, perhaps, to prove that it +deserves the attention of those who would be conversant with the +history of New England. This book is in octavo, and was +reprinted at Boston in 1826. + +The most valuable and important authority which exists upon +the history of New England, is the work of the Rev. Cotton +Mather, entitled "Magnalia Christi Americana, or the +Ecclesiastical History of New England, 1620-1698, 2 vols. 8vo, +reprinted at Hartford, United States, in 1820." *b The author +divided his work into seven books. The first presents the +history of the events which prepared and brought about the +establishment of New England. The second contains the lives of +the first governors and chief magistrates who presided over the +country. The third is devoted to the lives and labors of the +evangelical ministers who, during the same period, had the care +of souls. In the fourth the author relates the institution and +progress of the University of Cambridge (Massachusetts). In the +fifth he describes the principles and the discipline of the +Church of New England. The sixth is taken up in retracing +certain facts, which, in the opinion of Mather, prove the +merciful interposition of Providence in behalf of the inhabitants +of New England. Lastly, in the seventh, the author gives an +account of the heresies and the troubles to which the Church of +New England was exposed. Cotton Mather was an evangelical +minister who was born at Boston, and passed his life there. His +narratives are distinguished by the same ardor and religious zeal +which led to the foundation of the colonies of New England. +Traces of bad taste sometimes occur in his manner of writing; but +he interests, because he is full of enthusiasm. He is often +intolerant, still oftener credulous, but he never betrays an +intention to deceive. Sometimes his book contains fine passages, +and true and profound reflections, such as the following: - + +"Before the arrival of the Puritans," says he (vol. +i. chap. iv.), "there were more than a few attempts of the +English to people and improve the parts of New England which were +to the northward of New Plymouth; but the designs of those +attempts being aimed no higher than the advancement of some +worldly interests, a constant series of disasters has confounded +them, until there was a plantation erected upon the nobler +designs of Christianity: and that plantation though it has had +more adversaries than perhaps any one upon earth, yet, having +obtained help from God, it continues to this day." Mather +occasionally relieves the austerity of his descriptions with +images full of tender feeling: after having spoken of an English +lady whose religious ardor had brought her to America with her +husband, and who soon after sank under the fatigues and +privations of exile, he adds, "As for her virtuous husband, Isaac +Johnson, + + He tryed +To live without her, liked it not, and dyed." + +[Footnote b: A folio edition of this work was published in London +in 1702.] + +Mather's work gives an admirable picture of the time and +country which he describes. In his account of the motives which +led the Puritans to seek an asylum beyond seas, he says: - +"The God of Heaven served, as it were, a summons upon the +spirits of his people in the English nation, stirring up the +spirits of thousands which never saw the faces of each other, +with a most unanimous inclination to leave all the pleasant +accommodations of their native country, and go over a terrible +ocean, into a more terrible desert, for the pure enjoyment of all +his ordinances. It is now reasonable that, before we pass any +further, the reasons of his undertaking should be more exactly +made known unto posterity, especially unto the posterity of those +that were the undertakers, lest they come at length to forget and +neglect the true interest of New England. Wherefore I shall now +transcribe some of them from a manuscript, wherein they were then +tendered unto consideration: + +"General Considerations for the Plantation of New England +"First, It will be a service unto the Church of great +consequence, to carry the Gospel unto those parts of the world, +and raise a bulwark against the kingdom of Antichrist, which the +Jesuits labour to rear up in all parts of the world. + +"Secondly, All other Churches of Europe have been brought +under desolations; and it may be feared that the like judgments +are coming upon us; and who knows but God hath provided this +place to be a refuge for many whom he means to save out of the +general destruction? + +"Thirdly, The land grows weary of her inhabitants, insomuch +that man, which is the most precious of all creatures, is here +more vile and base than the earth he treads upon; children, +neighbours, and friends, especially the poor, are counted the +greatest burdens, which, if things were right, would be the +chiefest of earthly blessings. + +"Fourthly, We are grown to that intemperance in all excess +of riot, as no mean estate almost will suffice a man to keep sail +with his equals, and he that fails in it must live in scorn and +contempt: hence it comes to pass, that all arts and trades are +carried in that deceitful manner and unrighteous course, as it is +almost impossible for a good upright man to maintain his constant +charge and live comfortably in them. + +"Fifthly, The schools of learning and religion are so +corrupted, as (besides the unsupportable charge of education) +most children, even the best, wittiest, and of the fairest hopes, +are perverted, corrupted, and utterly overthrown by the multitude +of evil examples and licentious behaviours in these seminaries. +"Sixthly, The whole earth is the Lord's garden, and he hath +given it to the sons of Adam, to be tilled and improved by them: +why, then, should we stand starving here for places of +habitation, and in the meantime suffer whole countries, as +profitable for the use of man, to lie waste without any +improvement? + +"Seventhly, What can be a better or nobler work, and more +worthy of a Christian, than to erect and support a reformed +particular Church in its infancy, and unite our forces with such +a company of faithful people, as by timely assistance may grow +stronger and prosper; but for want of it, may be put to great +hazards, if not be wholly ruined? + +"Eighthly, If any such as are known to be godly, and live in +wealth and prosperity here, shall forsake all this to join with +this reformed Church, and with it run the hazard of an hard and +mean condition, it will be an example of great use, both for the +removing of scandal and to give more life unto the faith of God's +people in their prayers for the plantation, and also to encourage +others to join the more willingly in it." + +Further on, when he declares the principles of the Church of +New England with respect to morals, Mather inveighs with violence +against the custom of drinking healths at table, which he +denounces as a pagan and abominable practice. He proscribes with +the same rigor all ornaments for the hair used by the female sex, +as well as their custom of having the arms and neck uncovered. +In another part of his work he relates several instances of +witchcraft which had alarmed New England. It is plain that the +visible action of the devil in the affairs of this world appeared +to him an incontestable and evident fact. + +This work of Cotton Mather displays, in many places, the +spirit of civil liberty and political independence which +characterized the times in which he lived. Their principles +respecting government are discoverable at every page. Thus, for +instance, the inhabitants of Massachusetts, in the year 1630, ten +years after the foundation of Plymouth, are found to have devoted +Pound 400 sterling to the establishment of the University of +Cambridge. In passing from the general documents relative to the +history of New England to those which describe the several States +comprised within its limits, I ought first to notice "The History +of the Colony of Massachusetts," by Hutchinson, +Lieutenant-Governor of the Massachusetts Province, 2 vols. 8vo. +The history of Hutchinson, which I have several times quoted in +the chapter to which this note relates, commences in the year +1628, and ends in 1750. Throughout the work there is a striking +air of truth and the greatest simplicity of style: it is full of +minute details. The best history to consult concerning +Connecticut is that of Benjamin Trumbull, entitled "A Complete +History of Connecticut, Civil and Ecclesiastical," 1630-1764, 2 +vols. 8vo, printed in 1818 at New Haven. This history contains a +clear and calm account of all the events which happened in +Connecticut during the period given in the title. The author drew +from the best sources, and his narrative bears the stamp of +truth. All that he says of the early days of Connecticut is +extremely curious. See especially the Constitution of 1639, vol. +i. ch. vi. p. 100; and also the Penal Laws of Connecticut, vol. +i. ch. vii. p. 123. + +"The History of New Hampshire," by Jeremy Belknap, is a work +held in merited estimation. It was printed at Boston in 1792, in +2 vols. 8vo. The third chapter of the first volume is +particularly worthy of attention for the valuable details it +affords on the political and religious principles of the +Puritans, on the causes of their emigration, and on their laws. +The following curious quotation is given from a sermon delivered +in 1663: - "It concerneth New England always to remember that +they are a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade. The +profession of the purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline, is +written upon her forehead. Let merchants, and such as are +increasing cent. per cent., remember this, that worldly gain was +not the end and design of the people of New England, but +religion. And if any man among us make religion as twelve, and +the world as thirteen, such an one hath not the spirit of a true +New Englishman." The reader of Belknap will find in his work more +general ideas, and more strength of thought, than are to be met +with in the American historians even to the present day. + +Among the Central States which deserve our attention for +their remote origin, New York and Pennsylvania are the foremost. +The best history we have of the former is entitled "A History of +New York," by William Smith, printed at London in 1757. Smith +gives us important details of the wars between the French and +English in America. His is the best account of the famous +confederation of the Iroquois. + +With respect to Pennsylvania, I cannot do better than point +out the work of Proud, entitled "The History of Pennsylvania, +from the original Institution and Settlement of that Province, +under the first Proprietor and Governor, William Penn, in 1681, +till after the year 1742," by Robert Proud, 2 vols. 8vo, printed +at Philadelphia in 1797. This work is deserving of the especial +attention of the reader; it contains a mass of curious documents +concerning Penn, the doctrine of the Quakers, and the character, +manners, and customs of the first inhabitants of Pennsylvania. I +need not add that among the most important documents relating to +this State are the works of Penn himself, and those of Franklin. + +Part II. + +Appendix G + +We read in Jefferson's "Memoirs" as follows: - + +"At the time of the first settlement of the English in +Virginia, when land was to be had for little or nothing, some +provident persons having obtained large grants of it, and being +desirous of maintaining the splendor of their families, entailed +their property upon their descendants. The transmission of these +estates from generation to generation, to men who bore the same +name, had the effect of raising up a distinct class of families, +who, possessing by law the privilege of perpetuating their +wealth, formed by these means a sort of patrician order, +distinguished by the grandeur and luxury of their establishments. +From this order it was that the King usually chose his +councillors of state." *c + +[Footnote c: This passage is extracted and translated from M. +Conseil's work upon the life of Jefferson, entitled "Melanges +Politiques et Philosophiques de Jefferson."] + +In the United States, the principal clauses of the English +law respecting descent have been universally rejected. The first +rule that we follow, says Mr. Kent, touching inheritance, is the +following: - If a man dies intestate, his property goes to his +heirs in a direct line. If he has but one heir or heiress, he or +she succeeds to the whole. If there are several heirs of the +same degree, they divide the inheritance equally amongst them, +without distinction of sex. This rule was prescribed for the +first time in the State of New York by a statute of February 23, +1786. (See Revised Statutes, vol. iii. Appendix, p. 48.) It has +since then been adopted in the Revised Statutes of the same +State. At the present day this law holds good throughout the +whole of the United States, with the exception of the State of +Vermont, where the male heir inherits a double portion. (Kent's +"Commentaries," vol. iv. p. 370.) Mr. Kent, in the same work, +vol. iv. p. 1-22, gives a historical account of American +legislation on the subject of entail: by this we learn that, +previous to the Revolution, the colonies followed the English law +of entail. Estates tail were abolished in Virginia in 1776, on a +motion of Mr. Jefferson. They were suppressed in New York in +1786, and have since been abolished in North Carolina, Kentucky, +Tennessee, Georgia, and Missouri. In Vermont, Indiana, Illinois, +South Carolina, and Louisiana, entail was never introduced. Those +States which thought proper to preserve the English law of +entail, modified it in such a way as to deprive it of its most +aristocratic tendencies. "Our general principles on the subject +of government," says Mr. Kent, "tend to favor the free +circulation of property." + +It cannot fail to strike the French reader who studies the +law of inheritance, that on these questions the French +legislation is infinitely more democratic even than the American. +The American law makes an equal division of the father's +property, but only in the case of his will not being known; "for +every man," says the law, "in the State of New York (Revised +Statutes, vol. iii. Appendix, p. 51), has entire liberty, power, +and authority, to dispose of his property by will, to leave it +entire, or divided in favor of any persons he chooses as his +heirs, provided he do not leave it to a political body or any +corporation." The French law obliges the testator to divide his +property equally, or nearly so, among his heirs. Most of the +American republics still admit of entails, under certain +restrictions; but the French law prohibits entail in all cases. +If the social condition of the Americans is more democratic than +that of the French, the laws of the latter are the most +democratic of the two. This may be explained more easily than at +first appears to be the case. In France, democracy is still +occupied in the work of destruction; in America, it reigns +quietly over the ruins it has made. + +Appendix H + +Summary Of The Qualifications Of Voters In The United States As +They Existed In 1832 + +All the States agree in granting the right of voting at the +age of twenty-one. In all of them it is necessary to have +resided for a certain time in the district where the vote is +given. This period varies from three months to two years. + +As to the qualification: in the State of Massachusetts it is +necessary to have an income of Pound 3 or a capital of Pound 60. +In Rhode Island, a man must possess landed property to the +amount of $133. + +In Connecticut, he must have a property which gives an +income of $17. A year of service in the militia also gives the +elective privilege. + +In New Jersey, an elector must have a property of Pound 50 a +year. + +In South Carolina and Maryland, the elector must possess +fifty acres of land. + +In Tennessee, he must possess some property. + +In the States of Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, +Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, the only necessary +qualification for voting is that of paying the taxes; and in most +of the States, to serve in the militia is equivalent to the +payment of taxes. In Maine and New Hampshire any man can vote +who is not on the pauper list. + +Lastly, in the States of Missouri, Alabama, Illinois, +Louisiana, Indiana, Kentucky, and Vermont, the conditions of +voting have no reference to the property of the elector. + +I believe there is no other State besides that of North +Carolina in which different conditions are applied to the voting +for the Senate and the electing the House of Representatives. +The electors of the former, in this case, should possess in +property fifty acres of land; to vote for the latter, nothing +more is required than to pay taxes. + +Appendix I + +The small number of custom-house officers employed in the +United States, compared with the extent of the coast, renders +smuggling very easy; notwithstanding which, it is less practised +than elsewhere, because everybody endeavors to repress it. In +America there is no police for the prevention of fires, and such +accidents are more frequent than in Europe; but in general they +are more speedily extinguished, because the surrounding +population is prompt in lending assistance. + +Appendix K + +It is incorrect to assert that centralization was produced +by the French Revolution; the revolution brought it to +perfection, but did not create it. The mania for centralization +and government regulations dates from the time when jurists began +to take a share in the government, in the time of Philippele-Bel; +ever since which period they have been on the increase. In the +year 1775, M. de Malesherbes, speaking in the name of the Cour +des Aides, said to Louis XIV: - *d + +[Footnote d: See "Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire du Droit +Public de la France en matiere d'impots," p. 654, printed at +Brussels in 1779.] + +". . . Every corporation and every community of citizens +retained the right of administering its own affairs; a right +which not only forms part of the primitive constitution of the +kingdom, but has a still higher origin; for it is the right of +nature, and of reason. Nevertheless, your subjects, Sire, have +been deprived of it; and we cannot refrain from saying that in +this respect your government has fallen into puerile extremes. +From the time when powerful ministers made it a political +principle to prevent the convocation of a national assembly, one +consequence has succeeded another, until the deliberations of the +inhabitants of a village are declared null when they have not +been authorized by the Intendant. Of course, if the community +has an expensive undertaking to carry through, it must remain +under the control of the sub-delegate of the Intendant, and, +consequently, follow the plan he proposes, employ his favorite +workmen, pay them according to his pleasure; and if an action at +law is deemed necessary, the Intendant's permission must be +obtained. The cause must be pleaded before this first tribunal, +previous to its being carried into a public court; and if the +opinion of the Intendant is opposed to that of the inhabitants, +or if their adversary enjoys his favor, the community is deprived +of the power of defending its rights. Such are the means, Sire, +which have been exerted to extinguish the municipal spirit in +France; and to stifle, if possible, the opinions of the citizens. +The nation may be said to lie under an interdict, and to be in +wardship under guardians." What could be said more to the purpose +at the present day, when the Revolution has achieved what are +called its victories in centralization? + +In 1789, Jefferson wrote from Paris to one of his friends: - +"There is no country where the mania for over-governing has taken +deeper root than in France, or been the source of greater +mischief." (Letter to Madison, August 28, 1789.) The fact is, +that for several centuries past the central power of France has +done everything it could to extend central administration; it has +acknowledged no other limits than its own strength. The central +power to which the Revolution gave birth made more rapid advances +than any of its predecessors, because it was stronger and wiser +than they had been; Louis XIV committed the welfare of such +communities to the caprice of an intendant; Napoleon left them to +that of the Minister. The same principle governed both, though +its consequences were more or less remote. + +Appendix L + +The immutability of the constitution of France is a +necessary consequence of the laws of that country. To begin with +the most important of all the laws, that which decides the order +of succession to the throne; what can be more immutable in its +principle than a political order founded upon the natural +succession of father to son? In 1814, Louis XVIII had +established the perpetual law of hereditary succession in favor +of his own family. The individuals who regulated the +consequences of the Revolution of 1830 followed his example; they +merely established the perpetuity of the law in favor of another +family. In this respect they imitated the Chancellor Meaupou, +who, when he erected the new Parliament upon the ruins of the +old, took care to declare in the same ordinance that the rights +of the new magistrates should be as inalienable as those of their +predecessors had been. The laws of 1830, like those of 1814, +point out no way of changing the constitution: and it is evident +that the ordinary means of legislation are insufficient for this +purpose. As the King, the Peers, and the Deputies, all derive +their authority from the constitution, these three powers united +cannot alter a law by virtue of which alone they govern. Out of +the pale of the constitution they are nothing: where, when, could +they take their stand to effect a change in its provisions? The +alternative is clear: either their efforts are powerless against +the charter, which continues to exist in spite of them, in which +case they only reign in the name of the charter; or they succeed +in changing the charter, and then, the law by which they existed +being annulled, they themselves cease to exist. By destroying +the charter, they destroy themselves. This is much more evident +in the laws of 1830 than in those of 1814. In 1814, the royal +prerogative took its stand above and beyond the constitution; but +in 1830, it was avowedly created by, and dependent on, the +constitution. A part, therefore, of the French constitution is +immutable, because it is united to the destiny of a family; and +the body of the constitution is equally immutable, because there +appear to be no legal means of changing it. These remarks are +not applicable to England. That country having no written +constitution, who can assert when its constitution is changed? + +Appendix M + +The most esteemed authors who have written upon the English +Constitution agree with each other in establishing the +omnipotence of the Parliament. Delolme says: "It is a fundamental +principle with the English lawyers, that Parliament can do +everything except making a woman a man, or a man a woman." +Blackstone expresses himself more in detail, if not more +energetically, than Delolme, in the following terms: - "The power +and jurisdiction of Parliament, says Sir Edward Coke (4 Inst. +36), is so transcendent and absolute that it cannot be confined, +either for causes or persons, within any bounds." And of this +High Court, he adds, may be truly said, "Si antiquitatem spectes, +est vetustissima; si dignitatem, est honoratissima; si +jurisdictionem, est capacissima." It hath sovereign and +uncontrollable authority in the making, confirming, enlarging, +restraining, abrogating, repealing, reviving, and expounding of +laws, concerning matters of all possible denominations; +ecclesiastical or temporal; civil, military, maritime, or +criminal; this being the place where that absolute despotic power +which must, in all governments, reside somewhere, is intrusted by +the constitution of these kingdoms. All mischiefs and +grievances, operations and remedies, that transcend the ordinary +course of the laws, are within the reach of this extraordinary +tribunal. It can regulate or new-model the succession to the +Crown; as was done in the reign of Henry VIII and William III. +It can alter the established religion of the land; as was done in +a variety of instances in the reigns of King Henry VIII and his +three children. It can change and create afresh even the +constitution of the kingdom, and of parliaments themselves; as +was done by the Act of Union and the several statutes for +triennial and septennial elections. It can, in short, do +everything that is not naturally impossible to be done; +and, therefore some have not scrupled to call its power, by a +figure rather too bold, the omnipotence of Parliament." + +Appendix N + +There is no question upon which the American constitutions +agree more fully than upon that of political jurisdiction. All +the constitutions which take cognizance of this matter, give to +the House of Delegates the exclusive right of impeachment; +excepting only the constitution of North Carolina, which grants +the same privilege to grand juries. (Article 23.) Almost all the +constitutions give the exclusive right of pronouncing sentence to +the Senate, or to the Assembly which occupies its place. + +The only punishments which the political tribunals can +inflict are removal, or the interdiction of public functions for +the future. There is no other constitution but that of Virginia +(p. 152), which enables them to inflict every kind of punishment. +The crimes which are subject to political jurisdiction are, in +the federal constitution (Section 4, Art. 1); in that of Indiana +(Art. 3, paragraphs 23 and 24); of New York (Art. 5); of Delaware +(Art. 5), high treason, bribery, and other high crimes or +offences. In the Constitution of Massachusetts (Chap. I, Section +2); that of North Carolina (Art. 23); of Virginia (p. 252), +misconduct and maladministration. In the constitution of New +Hampshire (p. 105), corruption, intrigue, and maladministration. +In Vermont (Chap. 2, Art. 24), maladministration. In South +Carolina (Art. 5); Kentucky (Art. 5); Tennessee (Art. 4); Ohio +(Art. 1, 23, 24); Louisiana (Art. 5); Mississippi (Art. 5); +Alabama (Art. 6); Pennsylvania (Art. 4), crimes committed in the +non-performance of official duties. In the States of Illinois, +Georgia, Maine, and Connecticut, no particular offences are +specified. + +Appendix O + +It is true that the powers of Europe may carry on maritime +wars with the Union; but there is always greater facility and +less danger in supporting a maritime than a continental war. +Maritime warfare only requires one species of effort. A +commercial people which consents to furnish its government with +the necessary funds, is sure to possess a fleet. And it is far +easier to induce a nation to part with its money, almost +unconsciously, than to reconcile it to sacrifices of men and +personal efforts. Moreover, defeat by sea rarely compromises the +existence or independence of the people which endures it. As for +continental wars, it is evident that the nations of Europe cannot +be formidable in this way to the American Union. It would be +very difficult to transport and maintain in America more than +25,000 soldiers; an army which may be considered to represent a +nation of about 2,000,000 of men. The most populous nation of +Europe contending in this way against the Union, is in the +position of a nation of 2,000,000 of inhabitants at war with one +of 12,000,000. Add to this, that America has all its resources +within reach, whilst the European is at 4,000 miles distance from +his; and that the immensity of the American continent would of +itself present an insurmountable obstacle to its conquest. + +Appendix P + +The first American journal appeared in April, 1704, and was +published at Boston. See "Collection of the Historical Society +of Massachusetts," vol. vi. p. 66. It would be a mistake to +suppose that the periodical press has always been entirely free +in the American colonies: an attempt was made to establish +something analogous to a censorship and preliminary security. +Consult the Legislative Documents of Massachusetts of January 14, +1722. The Committee appointed by the General Assembly (the +legislative body of the province) for the purpose of examining +into circumstances connected with a paper entitled "The New +England Courier," expresses its opinion that "the tendency of the +said journal is to turn religion into derision and bring it into +contempt; that it mentions the sacred writers in a profane and +irreligious manner; that it puts malicious interpretations upon +the conduct of the ministers of the Gospel; and that the +Government of his Majesty is insulted, and the peace and +tranquillity of the province disturbed by the said journal. The +Committee is consequently of opinion that the printer and +publisher, James Franklin, should be forbidden to print and +publish the said journal or any other work in future, without +having previously submitted it to the Secretary of the province; +and that the justices of the peace for the county of Suffolk +should be commissioned to require bail of the said James Franklin +for his good conduct during the ensuing year." The suggestion of +the Committee was adopted and passed into a law, but the effect +of it was null, for the journal eluded the prohibition by putting +the name of Benjamin Franklin instead of James Franklin at the +bottom of its columns, and this manoeuvre was supported by public +opinion. + +Appendix Q + +The Federal Constitution has introduced the jury into the +tribunals of the Union in the same way as the States had +introduced it into their own several courts; but as it has not +established any fixed rules for the choice of jurors, the federal +courts select them from the ordinary jury list which each State +makes for itself. The laws of the States must therefore be +examined for the theory of the formation of juries. See Story's +"Commentaries on the Constitution," B. iii. chap. 38, p. 654-659; +Sergeant's "Constitutional Law," p. 165. See also the Federal +Laws of the years 1789, 1800, and 1802, upon the subject. For +the purpose of thoroughly understanding the American principles +with respect to the formation of juries, I examined the laws of +States at a distance from one another, and the following +observations were the result of my inquiries. In America, all +the citizens who exercise the elective franchise have the right +of serving upon a jury. The great State of New York, however, +has made a slight difference between the two privileges, but in a +spirit quite contrary to that of the laws of France; for in the +State of New York there are fewer persons eligible as jurymen +than there are electors. It may be said in general that the +right of forming part of a jury, like the right of electing +representatives, is open to all the citizens: the exercise of +this right, however, is not put indiscriminately into any hands. +Every year a body of municipal or county magistrates - called +"selectmen" in New England, "supervisors" in New York, "trustees" +in Ohio, and "sheriffs of the parish" in Louisiana - choose for +each county a certain number of citizens who have the right of +serving as jurymen, and who are supposed to be capable of +exercising their functions. These magistrates, being themselves +elective, excite no distrust; their powers, like those of most +republican magistrates, are very extensive and very arbitrary, +and they frequently make use of them to remove unworthy or +incompetent jurymen. The names of the jurymen thus chosen are +transmitted to the County Court; and the jury who have to decide +any affair are drawn by lot from the whole list of names. The +Americans have contrived in every way to make the common people +eligible to the jury, and to render the service as little onerous +as possible. The sessions are held in the chief town of every +county, and the jury are indemnified for their attendance either +by the State or the parties concerned. They receive in general a +dollar per day, besides their travelling expenses. In America, +the being placed upon the jury is looked upon as a burden, but it +is a burden which is very supportable. See Brevard's "Digest of +the Public Statute Law of South Carolina," vol. i. pp. 446 and +454, vol. ii. pp. 218 and 338; "The General Laws of +Massachusetts, revised and published by authority of the +Legislature," vol. ii. pp. 187 and 331; "The Revised Statutes of +the State of New York," vol. ii. pp. 411, 643, 717, 720; "The +Statute Law of the State of Tennessee," vol. i. p. 209; "Acts of +the State of Ohio," pp. 95 and 210; and "Digeste general des +Actes de la Legislature de la Louisiane." + +Appendix R + +If we attentively examine the constitution of the jury as +introduced into civil proceedings in England, we shall readily +perceive that the jurors are under the immediate control of the +judge. It is true that the verdict of the jury, in civil as well +as in criminal cases, comprises the question of fact and the +question of right in the same reply; thus - a house is claimed by +Peter as having been purchased by him: this is the fact to be +decided. The defendant puts in a plea of incompetency on the +part of the vendor: this is the legal question to be resolved. +But the jury do not enjoy the same character of infallibility in +civil cases, according to the practice of the English courts, as +they do in criminal cases. The judge may refuse to receive the +verdict; and even after the first trial has taken place, a second +or new trial may be awarded by the Court. See Blackstone's +"Commentaries," book iii. ch. 24. + +Appendix S + +I find in my travelling journal a passage which may serve to +convey a more complete notion of the trials to which the women of +America, who consent to follow their husbands into the wilds, are +often subjected. This description has nothing to recommend it to +the reader but its strict accuracy: + +". . . From time to time we come to fresh clearings; all +these places are alike; I shall describe the one at which we have +halted to-night, for it will serve to remind me of all the +others. + +"The bell which the pioneers hang round the necks of their +cattle, in order to find them again in the woods, announced our +approach to a clearing, when we were yet a long way off; and we +soon afterwards heard the stroke of the hatchet, hewing down the +trees of the forest. As we came nearer, traces of destruction +marked the presence of civilized man; the road was strewn with +shattered boughs; trunks of trees, half consumed by fire, or +cleft by the wedge, were still standing in the track we were +following. We continued to proceed till we reached a wood in +which all the trees seemed to have been suddenly struck dead; in +the height of summer their boughs were as leafless as in winter; +and upon closer examination we found that a deep circle had been +cut round the bark, which, by stopping the circulation of the +sap, soon kills the tree. We were informed that this is commonly +the first thing a pioneer does; as he cannot in the first year +cut down all the trees which cover his new parcel of land, he +sows Indian corn under their branches, and puts the trees to +death in order to prevent them from injuring his crop. Beyond +this field, at present imperfectly traced out, we suddenly came +upon the cabin of its owner, situated in the centre of a plot of +ground more carefully cultivated than the rest, but where man was +still waging unequal warfare with the forest; there the trees +were cut down, but their roots were not removed, and the trunks +still encumbered the ground which they so recently shaded. Around +these dry blocks, wheat, suckers of trees, and plants of every +kind, grow and intertwine in all the luxuriance of wild, +untutored nature. Amidst this vigorous and various vegetation +stands the house of the pioneer, or, as they call it, the log +house. Like the ground about it, this rustic dwelling bore marks +of recent and hasty labor; its length seemed not to exceed thirty +feet, its height fifteen; the walls as well as the roof were +formed of rough trunks of trees, between which a little moss and +clay had been inserted to keep out the cold and rain. + +"As night was coming on, we determined to ask the master of +the log house for a lodging. At the sound of our footsteps, the +children who were playing amongst the scattered branches sprang +up and ran towards the house, as if they were frightened at the +sight of man; whilst two large dogs, almost wild, with ears erect +and outstretched nose, came growling out of their hut, to cover +the retreat of their young masters. The pioneer himself made his +appearance at the door of his dwelling; he looked at us with a +rapid and inquisitive glance, made a sign to the dogs to go into +the house, and set them the example, without betraying either +curiosity or apprehension at our arrival. + +"We entered the log house: the inside is quite unlike that +of the cottages of the peasantry of Europe: it contains more than +is superfluous, less than is necessary. A single window with a +muslin blind; on a hearth of trodden clay an immense fire, which +lights the whole structure; above the hearth a good rifle, a +deer's skin, and plumes of eagles' feathers; on the right hand of +the chimney a map of the United States, raised and shaken by the +wind through the crannies in the wall; near the map, upon a shelf +formed of a roughly hewn plank, a few volumes of books - a Bible, +the six first books of Milton, and two of Shakespeare's plays; +along the wall, trunks instead of closets; in the centre of the +room a rude table, with legs of green wood, and with the bark +still upon them, looking as if they grew out of the ground on +which they stood; but on this table a tea-pot of British ware, +silver spoons, cracked tea-cups, and some newspapers. + +"The master of this dwelling has the strong angular features +and lank limbs peculiar to the native of New England. It is +evident that this man was not born in the solitude in which we +have met with him: his physical constitution suffices to show +that his earlier years were spent in the midst of civilized +society, and that he belongs to that restless, calculating, and +adventurous race of men, who do with the utmost coolness things +only to be accounted for by the ardor of the passions, and who +endure the life of savages for a time, in order to conquer and +civilize the backwoods. + +"When the pioneer perceived that we were crossing his +threshold, he came to meet us and shake hands, as is their +custom; but his face was quite unmoved; he opened the +conversation by inquiring what was going on in the world; and +when his curiosity was satisfied, he held his peace, as if he +were tired by the noise and importunity of mankind. When we +questioned him in our turn, he gave us all the information we +required; he then attended sedulously, but without eagerness, to +our personal wants. Whilst he was engaged in providing thus +kindly for us, how came it that in spit of ourselves we felt our +gratitude die upon our lips? It is that our host whilst he +performs the duties of hospitality, seems to be obeying an +irksome necessity of his condition: he treats it as a duty +imposed upon him by his situation, not as a pleasure. By the +side of the hearth sits a woman with a baby on her lap: she nods +to us without disturbing herself. Like the pioneer, this woman +is in the prime of life; her appearance would seem superior to +her condition, and her apparel even betrays a lingering taste for +dress; but her delicate limbs appear shrunken, her features are +drawn in, her eye is mild and melancholy; her whole physiognomy +bears marks of a degree of religious resignation, a deep quiet of +all passions, and some sort of natural and tranquil firmness, +ready to meet all the ills of life, without fearing and without +braving them. Her children cluster about her, full of health, +turbulence, and energy: they are true children of the wilderness; +their mother watches them from time to time with mingled +melancholy and joy: to look at their strength and her languor, +one might imagine that the life she has given them has exhausted +her own, and still she regrets not what they have cost her. The +house inhabited by these emigrants has no internal partition or +loft. In the one chamber of which it consists, the whole family +is gathered for the night. The dwelling is itself a little world +- an ark of civilization amidst an ocean of foliage: a hundred +steps beyond it the primeval forest spreads its shades, and +solitude resumes its sway." + +Appendix T + +It is not the equality of conditions which makes men immoral +and irreligious; but when men, being equal, are at the same time +immoral and irreligious, the effects of immorality and irreligion +easily manifest themselves outwardly, because men have but little +influence upon each other, and no class exists which can +undertake to keep society in order. Equality of conditions never +engenders profligacy of morals, but it sometimes allows that +profligacy to show itself. + +Appendix U + +Setting aside all those who do not think at all, and those +who dare not say what they think, the immense majority of the +Americans will still be found to appear satisfied with the +political institutions by which they are governed; and, I +believe, really to be so. I look upon this state of public +opinion as an indication, but not as a demonstration, of the +absolute excellence of American laws. The pride of a nation, the +gratification of certain ruling passions by the law, a concourse +of circumstances, defects which escape notice, and more than all +the rest, the influence of a majority which shuts the mouth of +all cavillers, may long perpetuate the delusions of a people as +well as those of a man. Look at England throughout the +eighteenth century. No nation was ever more prodigal of +self-applause, no people was ever more self- satisfied; then +every part of its constitution was right - everything, even to +its most obvious defects, was irreproachable: at the present day +a vast number of Englishmen seem to have nothing better to do +than to prove that this constitution was faulty in many respects. +Which was right? - the English people of the last century, or the +English people of the present day? + +The same thing has occurred in France. It is certain that +during the reign of Louis XIV the great bulk of the nation was +devotedly attached to the form of government which, at that time, +governed the community. But it is a vast error to suppose that +there was anything degraded in the character of the French of +that age. There might be some sort of servitude in France at +that time, but assuredly there was no servile spirit among the +people. The writers of that age felt a species of genuine +enthusiasm in extolling the power of their king; and there was no +peasant so obscure in his hovel as not to take a pride in the +glory of his sovereign, and to die cheerfully with the cry "Vive +le Roi!" upon his lips. These very same forms of loyalty are now +odious to the French people. Which are wrong? - the French of +the age of Louis XIV, or their descendants of the present day? + +Our judgment of the laws of a people must not then be founded +Future Condition Of Three Races In The United States exclusively +upon its inclinations, since those inclinations change from age +to age; but upon more elevated principles and a more general +experience. The love which a people may show for its law proves +only this: - that we should not be in too great a hurry to change +them. + +Appendix V + +In the chapter to which this note relates I have pointed out +one source of danger: I am now about to point out another kind of +peril, more rare indeed, but far more formidable if it were ever +to make its appearance. If the love of physical gratification +and the taste for well-being, which are naturally suggested to +men by a state of equality, were to get entire possession of the +mind of a democratic people, and to fill it completely, the +manners of the nation would become so totally opposed to military +tastes, that perhaps even the army would eventually acquire a +love of peace, in spite of the peculiar interest which leads it +to desire war. Living in the midst of a state of general +relaxation, the troops would ultimately think it better to rise +without efforts, by the slow but commodious advancement of a +peace establishment, than to purchase more rapid promotion at the +cost of all the toils and privations of the field. With these +feelings, they would take up arms without enthusiasm, and use +them without energy; they would allow themselves to be led to +meet the foe, instead of marching to attack him. It must not be +supposed that this pacific state of the army would render it +adverse to revolutions; for revolutions, and especially military +revolutions, which are generally very rapid, are attended indeed +with great dangers, but not with protracted toil; they gratify +ambition at less cost than war; life only is at stake, and the +men of democracies care less for their lives than for their +comforts. Nothing is more dangerous for the freedom and the +tranquillity of a people than an army afraid of war, because, as +such an army no longer seeks to maintain its importance and its +influence on the field of battle, it seeks to assert them +elsewhere. Thus it might happen that the men of whom a +democratic army consists should lose the interests of citizens +without acquiring the virtues of soldiers; and that the army +should cease to be fit for war without ceasing to be turbulent. +I shall here repeat what I have said in the text: the remedy for +these dangers is not to be found in the army, but in the country: +a democratic people which has preserved the manliness of its +character will never be at a loss for military prowess in its +soldiers. + +Appendix W + +Men connect the greatness of their idea of unity with means, +God with ends: hence this idea of greatness, as men conceive it, +leads us into infinite littleness. To compel all men to follow +the same course towards the same object is a human notion; - to +introduce infinite variety of action, but so combined that all +these acts lead by a multitude of different courses to the +accomplishment of one great design, is a conception of the Deity. +The human idea of unity is almost always barren; the divine idea +pregnant with abundant results. Men think they manifest their +greatness by simplifying the means they use; but it is the +purpose of God which is simple - his means are infinitely varied. + +Appendix X + +A democratic people is not only led by its own tastes to +centralize its government, but the passions of all the men by +whom it is governed constantly urge it in the same direction. It +may easily be foreseen that almost all the able and ambitious +members of a democratic community will labor without 2 ceasing to +extend the powers of government, because they all hope at some +time or other to wield those powers. It is a waste of time to +attempt to prove to them that extreme centralization may be +injurious to the State, since they are centralizing for their own +benefit. Amongst the public men of democracies there are hardly +any but men of great disinterestedness or extreme mediocrity who +seek to oppose the centralization of government: the former are +scarce, the latter powerless. + +Appendix Y + +I have often asked myself what would happen if, amidst the +relaxation of democratic manners, and as a consequence of the +restless spirit of the army, a military government were ever to +be founded amongst any of the nations of the present age. I +think that even such a government would not differ very much from +the outline I have drawn in the chapter to which this note +belongs, and that it would retain none of the fierce +characteristics of a military oligarchy. I am persuaded that, in +such a case, a sort of fusion would take place between the habits +of official men and those of the military service. The +administration would assume something of a military character, +and the army some of the usages of the civil administration. The +result would be a regular, clear, exact, and absolute system of +government; the people would become the reflection of the army, +and the community be drilled like a garrison. + +Appendix Z + +It cannot be absolutely or generally affirmed that the +greatest danger of the present age is license or tyranny, anarchy +or despotism. Both are equally to be feared; and the one may as +easily proceed as the other from the selfsame cause, namely, that +"general apathy," which is the consequence of what I have termed +"individualism": it is because this apathy exists, that the +executive government, having mustered a few troops, is able to +commit acts of oppression one day, and the next day a party, +which has mustered some thirty men in its ranks, can also commit +acts of oppression. Neither one nor the other can found anything +to last; and the causes which enable them to succeed easily, +prevent them from succeeding long: they rise because nothing +opposes them, and they sink because nothing supports them. The +proper object therefore of our most strenuous resistance, is far +less either anarchy or despotism than the apathy which may almost +indifferently beget either the one or the other. + + +Constitution Of The United States Of America + +We The People of the United States, in Order to form a more +perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, +provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and +secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, +do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States +of America: + +Article I + +Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be +vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of +a Senate and House of Representatives. + +Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of +Members of chosen every second Year by the People of the several +States, and the Electors in each States shall have the +Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch +of the State Legislature. + +No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have +attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a +Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be +an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. + +Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among +the several States which may be included within this Union, +according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined +by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those +bound to service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not +taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration +shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the +Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term +of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The +Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty +Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; +and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New +Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts, +eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut +five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware +one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South +Carolina five, and Georgia three. + +When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, +the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to +fill such Vacancies. + +The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and +other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. +Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed +of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature +thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. + +Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of +the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be +into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class +shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the +second Class at the expiration of the fourth Year, and of the +third Class at the expiration of the sixth Year, so that +one-third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies +happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the +Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make +temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, +which shall then fill such Vacancies. + +No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to +the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the +United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant +of that State for which he shall be chosen. + +The Vice-President of the United States shall be President +of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally +divided. The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also +a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice-President, or +when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United +States. + +The Senate shall have the sole power to try all +Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on +Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is +tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be +convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members +present. Judgment in cases of Impeachment shall not extend +further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold +and enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust, or Profit under the United +States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and +subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment according +to Law. + +Section 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections +for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each +State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any +time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the +Places of choosing Senators. + +The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and +such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless +they shall by Law appoint a different Day. + +Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, +Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of +each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller +Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to +compel the Attendance of Absent Members, in such Manner, and +under such Penalties as each House may provide. + +Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, +punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with a +Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member. + +Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from +time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in +their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the +Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of +one-fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal. + +Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, +without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three +days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses +shall be sitting. + +Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a +Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and +paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all +Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be +privileged from Arrest during their attendance at the Session of +their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the +same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall +not be questioned in any other Place. + +No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for +which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the +Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or +the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such +time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, +shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in +Office. + +Section 7. All Bills for Raising Revenue shall originate in +the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or +concur with Amendments as on other Bills. + +Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives +and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to +the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign +it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections, to that +House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the +Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider +it. If after such Reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall +agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the +Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be +reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it +shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both +Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the +Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the +Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be +returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) +after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a +Law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress +by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall +not be a Law. + +Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of +the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except +on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President +of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, +shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be +repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of +Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations +prescribed in the case of a Bill. + +Section 8. The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect +Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide +for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; +but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout +the United States; + +To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; + +To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the +several States, and with the Indian Tribes; + +To establish an Uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform +Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; +To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign +Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; + +To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the +Securities and current Coin of the United States; + +To establish Post Offices and Post Roads; + +To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by +securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive +Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; + +To constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; +To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the +high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; + +To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and +make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; + +To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money +to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two years; + +To provide and maintain a Navy; + +To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land +and naval Forces. + +To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws +of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions. + +To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the +Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed +in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States +respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority +of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by +Congress; + +To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, +over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by +Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress +become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to +exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent +of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for +the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dock-Yards, and other +needful Buildings; - And To make all Laws which shall be +necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing +Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the +Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer +thereof. + +Section 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as +any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall +not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand +eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such +Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. + +The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be +suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the +public Safety may require it. + +No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. +No Capitation, or other direct Tax shall be laid, unless in +Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to +be taken. + +No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any +State. + +No preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce +or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor +shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, +clear, or pay Duties in another. + +No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in +consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular +Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all +public Money shall be published from time to time. + +No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: +And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, +shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any +present, Emolument, Office, or Title of any kind whatever, from +any King, Prince, or foreign State. + +Section 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, +or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque or Reprisal; coin +Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver +Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex +post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or +grant any Title of Nobility. + +No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any +Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be +absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the +net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on +Imports or Exports shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the +United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the Revision +and Control of the Congress. + +No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any +Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, +enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a +foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in +such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay. + +Article II + +Section 1. The Executive Power shall be vested in a +President of the United States of America. He shall hold his +Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the +Vice-President, chosen for the same Term, be elected as follows: + +Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature +thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole +Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be +entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or +Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United +States, shall be appointed an Elector. + +[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and +vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be +an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall +make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of +Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and +transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United +States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President +of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of +Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall +then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes +shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole +Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who +have such Majority, and have an equal number of Votes, then the +House of Representatives shall immediately choose by Ballot one +of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then +from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like +Manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the +Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each +State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of +a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority +of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, +after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest +number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice-President. But +if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the +Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the Vice-President.]*d + +[Footnote *d : This clause is superseded by Article XII, +Amendments. See page 396.] + +The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the +Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which +Day shall be the same throughout the United States. + +No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the +United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, +shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any +person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to +the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident +within the United States. + +In case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of +his Death, Resignation or Inability to discharge the Powers and +Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the +Vice-president, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case +of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the +President and Vice-President, declaring what Officer shall then +act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until +the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. + +The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his +Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor +diminished during the Period for which he shall have been +elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other +Emolument from the United States, or any of them. + +Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall +take the following Oath or Affirmation: - "I do solemnly swear +(or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of +President of the United States, and will to the best of my +Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the +United States." + +Section 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the +Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the +several States, when called into the actual Service of the United +States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal +Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject +relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall +have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against +the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. + +He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of +the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators +present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice +and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other +public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and +all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are +not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established +by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such +inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, +in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. + +The President shall have Power to fill up all vacancies that +may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting +Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. + +Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress +Information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their +Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and +expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both +Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between +them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn +them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive +Ambassadors and other Public Ministers; he shall take Care that +the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the +Officers of the United States. + +Section 4. The President, Vice-President and all civil +Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on +Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other +High Crimes and Misdemeanors. + +Article III + +Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States shall be +vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the +Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, +both of the Supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices +during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for +their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished +during their Continuance in Office. + +Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all cases, in +Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the +United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under +their Authority; - to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other +public Ministers and Consuls; - to all cases of Admiralty and +maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United +States shall be a Party; - to Controversies between two or more +States; -between a State and Citizens of another State; between +Citizens of different States, - between Citizens of the same +State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and +between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, +Citizens or Subjects. + +In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers +and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the +Supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other +Cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate +Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions and +under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. + +The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, +shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where +the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed +within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as +the Congress may by Law have directed. + +Section 3. Treason against the United States shall consist +only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their +Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No person shall be +convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to +the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. + +The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of +Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of +Blood or Forfeiture except during the life of the person +attainted. + +Article IV + +Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each +State to the Public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of +every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws +prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings +shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. + +Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to +all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. +A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other +Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another +State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State +from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State +having Jurisdiction of the Crime. + +No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the +Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any +Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or +Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom +such Service or Labour may be due. + +Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into +this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within +the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by +the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without +the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well +as of the Congress. + +The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all +needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other +Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this +Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of +the United States, or of any particular State. + +Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State +in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect +each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the +Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be +convened against domestic Violence. + +Article V + +The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem +it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, +on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the +several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, +which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and +Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the +Legislatures of three- fourths of the several States, or by +Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other +Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided +that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One +thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the +first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first +Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be +deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. + +Article VI + +All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before +the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the +United States under this Constitution, as under the +Confederation. + +This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which +shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or +which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, +shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every +State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or +Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. + +The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the +Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and +judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several +States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support this +Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a +Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United +States. + +Article VII + +The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be +sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the +States so ratifying the Same. + +Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States +present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of Our +Lord One thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven and of the +Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. +In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names, + + Go: Washington + Presidt. and deputy from Virginia. + +New Hampshire + John Langdon + Nicholas Gilman + +Massachusetts + Nathaniel Gorham + Rufus King + +Connecticut + Wm. Saml. Johnson + Roger Sherman + +New York + Alexander Hamilton + +New Jersey + Wil: Livingston. + David Brearley. + Wm. Paterson. + Jona. Dayton + +Pennsylvania + B Franklin + Thomas Mifflin + Robt. Morris. + Geo. Clymer + Thos. Fitzsimons + Jared Ingersoll + James Wilson + Gouv Morris + +Delaware + Geo: Read + Gunning Bedford Jun + John Dickinson + Richard Bassett + Jaco: Broom + +Maryland + James McHenry + Dan of St Thos. Jenifer + Danl. Carroll + +Virginia + John Blair - + James Madison Jr. + +North Carolina + Wm. Blount + Richd. Dobbs Spaight + Hu Williamson + +South Carolina + J. Rutledge + Charles Cotesworth Pinckney + Charles Pinckney + Peirce Butler. + +Georgia + William Few + Abr Baldwin + +Attest William Jackson, Secretary + +The Word 'the,' being interlined between the seventh and +eighth Lines of the first Page, The word 'Thirty' being partly +written on an Erasure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, +The Words 'is tried' being interlined between the thirty-second +and thirty-third Lines of the first Page, and the Word 'the' +being interlined between the forty-third and forty-fourth Lines +of the second page. + +[Note by the Department of State. - The foregoing +explanation in the original instrument is placed on the left of +the paragraph beginning with the words, 'Done in Convention,' and +therefore precedes the signatures. The interlined and rewritten +words, mentioned in it, are in this edition printed in their +proper places in the text.] + + +Bill Of Rights + +In addition to, and amendment of, the Constitution of the +United States of America, proposed by Congress and ratified by +the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the Fifth +Article of the original Constitution + +Article I + +Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of +religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging +the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the pe +ple peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a +redress of grievances. + +Article II + +A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of +a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall +not be infringed. + +Article III + +No Soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house +without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a +manner to be prescribed by law. + +Article IV + +The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, +papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, +shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon +probable cause, supported by Oath or Affirmation, and +particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons +or things to be seized. + +Article V + +No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or +otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment +of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval +forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War +or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same +offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be +compelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness against himself, +nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due +process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public +use, without just compensation. + +Article VI + +In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the +right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the +State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, +which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and +to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be +confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory +process for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the +Assistance of Counsel for his defence. + +Article VII + +In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall +exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be +preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re- +examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the +rules of the common law. + +Article VIII + +Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines +imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. + +Article IX + +The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, +shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by +the people. + +Article X + +The powers not delegated to the United States by the +Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to +the States respectively, or to the people. + +Article XI + +The Judicial power of the United States shall not be +construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or +prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of +another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. + +Article XII + +The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote +by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at +least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with +themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for +as President; and in distinct ballots the person voted for as +Vice-President; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons +voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice +President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they +shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the +government of the United States, directed to the President of the +Senate; - The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of +the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the +certificates and the votes shall then be counted; - The person +having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the +President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of +Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then +from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three +on the list ofhose voted for as President, the House of +Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the +President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be +taken by States, the representation from each State having one +vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or +members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the +States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of +Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right +of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March +next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, +as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of +the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as +Vice- President, shall be the Vice-President, if such a number be +a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no +person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the +list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for +the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of +Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary +to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the +office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President +of the United States. + +Article XIII + +Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except +as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly +convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place +subject to their jurisdiction. + +Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article +by appropriate legislation. + +Article XIV + +Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United +States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of +the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State +shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges +or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any +State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without +due process of law; nor deny to any person within its +jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. + +Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the +several States according to their respective numbers, counting +the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not +taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice +of electors for President and Vice-President of the United +States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial +officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, +is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being +twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in +any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other +crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in +the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear +to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in +such State. + +Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in +Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any +office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any +State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of +Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member +of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer +of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, +shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, +or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may +by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. + +Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United +States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment +of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection +or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United +States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation +incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United +States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; +but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal +and void. + +Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by +appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. + +Article XV + +Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to +vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by +any State on account of race, colour, or previous condition of +servitude. + +Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this +article by appropriate legislation. + + + + + +*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Democracy In America, Volume 2* + diff --git a/old/2dina10.zip b/old/2dina10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..577d728 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2dina10.zip |