Volume II Part 17 (1/2)
To the evil of bad example from the government is superadded the natural tendency of a democratic form of government, to excite ambition without having the power to gratify it morally or virtuously; and the debasing influence of the pursuit of gain is everywhere apparent. It shews itself in the fact that money is in America everything, and everything else nothing; it is the only sure possession, for character can at any time be taken from you, and therefore becomes less valuable than in other countries, except so far as mercantile transactions are concerned.
Mr Cooper says--not once, but many times--that in America all the local affections, indeed everything, is sacrificed to the spirit of gain. Dr Charming constantly laments it, and he very truly a.s.serts, ”A people that deems the possession of riches its highest source of distinction, admits one of the most degrading of all influences to preside over its opinions. At no time should money be ever ranked as more than a means, and he who lives as if the acquisition of property were the sole end of his existence, betrays the dominion of the most sordid, base, and grovelling motive that life offers;” and ascribing it to the inst.i.tutions, he says, ”In one respect our inst.i.tutions have _disappointed us all_: they have not wrought out for us that elevation of character which is the most precious, and, in truth, the only substantial blessing of liberty.”
I have before observed, that whatever society permits, men will do and not consider to be wrong, and if the government considers a breach of trust towards it as not of any importance, and defaulters are permitted to escape, it will of course become no crime in the eyes of the majority. Mr Cooper observes, ”An evident _dishonesty_ of sentiment pervades the _public_ itself, which is beginning to regard acts of private delinquency with a dangerous indifference; acts too that are inseparably connected with the character, security, and right administration of the state.”
Such is unfortunately the case at present; it may be said to have commenced with the Jackson dynasty, and it is but a few years since this dreadful demoralisation has become so apparent and so shamelessly avowed. In another work the American author above quoted observes,--”We see the effects of this baneful influence in the openness and audacity with which men avow improper motives and improper acts, trusting to find support in a popular feeling, for while vicious influences are perhaps more admitted in other countries than in America, in none are they so openly avowed.” Surely there is sufficient of American authority to satisfy any reader that I am not guilty of exaggeration in my remarks.
Nor am I the only traveller who has observed upon what is indeed most evident and palpable. Captain Hamilton says, ”I have heard conduct praised in conversation at a public table, which, in England, would be attended, if not with a voyage to Botany Bay, at least with total loss of character. It is impossible to pa.s.s an hour in the bar of the hotel, without struck with the tone of callous selfishness which pervades the conversation, and the absence of all pretension to pure and lofty principle.”
It may indeed be fairly said, that nothing is disgraceful with the majority in America, which the law cannot lay hold of. [See Note 1.]
You are either in or out of the Penitentiary: if once in, you are lost for ever, but keep out and you are as good as your neighbour. Now one thing is certain, that where honesty is absolutely necessary, honesty is to be found, as for example among the New York merchants, who are, as a body, highly honourable men. When, therefore, the Americans will have moral courage sufficient to drive away vice, and not allow virtue to be in bondage, as she at present is, the morals of society will be instantly restored--and how and when will this be effected? I have said that the people of time United States, at the time of the Declaration of Independence, were perhaps the most moral people existing, and I now a.s.sert that they are the least so; to what cause can this change be ascribed? Certainly not wholly to the spirit of gain, for it exists every where, although perhaps nowhere so strongly developed as it is under a form of government which admits of no other claim to superiority. I consider that it arises from the total extinction, or if not extinction absolute bondage, of the aristocracy of the country, both politically as well as socially. There was an aristocracy at the time of the Independence--not an aristocracy of t.i.tle, but a much superior one; an aristocracy of great, powerful, and leading men, who were looked up to and imitated; there was, politically speaking, an aristocracy in the senate which was elected by those who were then independent of the popular will; but although a portion of it remains, it may be said to have been almost altogether smothered, and in society it no longer exists. It is the want of this aristocracy that has so lowered the standard of morals in America, and it is the revival of it that must restore to the people of the United States the morality they have lost.
The loss of the aristocracy has sunk the Republic into a democracy--the renewal of it will again restore them to their former condition. Let not the Americans start at this idea. An aristocracy is not only not incompatible, but absolutely necessary for the duration of a democratic form of government. It is the third estate, so necessary to preserve the balance of power between the executive and the people, and which has unfortunately disappeared. An aristocracy is as necessary for the morals as for the government of a nation. Society must have a head to lead it, and without that head there will be no fixed standard of morality, and things must remain in the chaotic state in which they are at present.
Some author has described the English nation as resembling their own beer-froth at the top, dregs at the bottom, and in the middle excellent.
There is point in this observation, and it has been received without criticism, and quoted without contradiction: but it is in itself false; it may be said that the facts are directly the reverse, there being more morality among the lower cla.s.s than in the middling, and still more in the higher than in the lower. We have been designated as a nation of shopkeepers, a term certainly more applicable to the Americans, where all are engaged in commerce and the pursuit of gain, and who have no distinctions or hereditary t.i.tles. Trade demoralises; there are so many petty arts and frauds necessary to be resorted to by every cla.s.s in trade, to enable them to compete with each other; so many lies told, as a matter of business, to tempt a purchaser, that almost insensibly and by degrees the shopkeeper becomes dishonest. These demoralising practices must be resorted to, even by those who would fain avoid them, or they have no chance of competing with their rivals in business. It is not the honest tradesman who makes a rapid fortune; indeed, it is doubtful whether he could carry on his business; and yet, from a.s.suetude and not being taxed with dishonesty, the shopkeeper scarcely ever feels that he is dishonest. Now, this is the worst state of demoralisation, where you are blind to your errors and conscience is never awakened, and in this state may be considered, with few exceptions, every cla.s.s of traders, whether in England, America, or elsewhere.
Among the lower cla.s.ses, the morals of the manufacturing districts, and of the frequenters of cities, will naturally be at a low ebb, for men when closely packed demoralise each other; but if we examine the agricultural cla.s.ses, which are by far the most numerous, we shall find that there is much virtue and goodness in the humble cottage; we shall there find piety and resignation, honesty, industry, and content, more universal than would be imagined, and the Bible pored over, instead of the day-book or ledger.
But it is by the higher cla.s.ses of the English nation, by the n.o.bility and gentry of England, that the high tone of virtue and morality is upheld. Foreigners, especially Americans, are too continually pointing out, and with evident satisfaction, the scandal arising from the conduct of some few individuals in these cla.s.ses as a proof of the conduct of the whole; but they mistake the exceptions for the rule. If they were to pay attention, they would perceive that these accusations are only confined to some few out of a cla.s.s comprehending many many thousands in our wealthy isle, and that the very circ.u.mstance of their rank being no s.h.i.+eld against the attacks made upon them, is a proof that they are exceptions, whose conduct is universally held up to public ridicule or indignation. A _crim. con_. in English high life is exulted over by the Americans; they point to it, and exclaim, ”See what your aristocracy are!” forgetting that the crime is committed by one out of thousands, and that it meets with the disgrace which it deserves, and that this crime is, to a certain degree, encouraged by our laws relative to divorce. Do the Americans imagine that there is no _crim. con_.
perpetrated in the United States? many instances of suspicion, and some of actual discovery, came to my knowledge even during my short residence there, but they were invariably, and perhaps judiciously, hushed up, for the sake of the families and the national credit. I do not wish, nor would it be possible, to draw any parallel between the two nations on this point; I shall only observe that in England we have not considered the vice to have become so prevalent as to think it necessary to form societies for the prevention of it, as they have done in the United States.
It has been acknowledged by other nations, and I believe it to be true, that the n.o.bility and gentry of England are the most moral, most religious, and most honourable cla.s.ses that can be found not only in our country, but in any other country in the world, and such they certainly ought from _circ.u.mstances_ to be.
Possessed of competence, they have no incentives to behave dishonestly.
They are well-educated, the finest race of men and women that can be produced, and the men are brought up to athletic and healthy amus.e.m.e.nts.
They have to support the honour of an ancient family, and to hand down the name untarnished to their posterity. They have every inducement to n.o.ble deeds, and are, generally speaking, above the necessities which induce men to go wrong. If the Americans would a.s.sert that luxury produces vice, I can only say that luxury infers idleness and inactivity, and on this point the women of the aristocracy in this country have the advantage over the American women, who cannot, from the peculiarity of the climate, take time exercise so universally resorted to by our higher cla.s.ses. I admit that some go wrong, but is error confined to the n.o.bility alone; are there no spendthrifts, no dissolute young men, or ill brought up young women, among other cla.s.ses? Are there none in America? Moreover, there are some descriptions of vice which are meaner than others and more debasing to the mind, and it is among the middling and lower cla.s.ses that these vices are princ.i.p.ally to be found.
The higher cla.s.ses invariably take the lead, and give the tone to society. If the court be moral, so are the morals of the nation improved by example, as in the time of George the Third. If the court be dissolute, as in the time of Charles the Second, the nation will plunge into vice. Now, in America there is no one to take the lead; morals, like religion, are the concern of n.o.body, and therefore it is that the standard of morality is so low. I have heard it argued that allowing one party to have a very low standard of morality and to act up to that standard, and another to have a high standard of morality and not to act up to it, that the former is the really moral man, as he does act up to his principles such as they are. This may hold good when we examine into the virtues and vices of nations: that the American Indian who acts up to his own code and belief, both in morality and religion, may be more worthy than a Christian who neglects his duty, may be true; but the question now is upon the respective morality of two enlightened nations, both Christian and having the Bible as their guide--between those who have neither of them any pretence to lower the standard of morality, as they both know better. M. Tocqueville observes, speaking of the difference between aristocratical and democratical governments--”In aristocratic governments the individuals who are placed at the head of affairs are rich men, who are solely desirous of power.
In democracies statesmen are poor, and they have their fortunes to make.
The consequence is, that in aristocratic States the rulers are rarely accessible to corruption, and have very little craving for money; whilst the reverse is the case in democratic nations.”
This is true, and may be fairly applied to the American democracy: as long as you will not allow the good and enlightened to rule, you will be governed by those who will flatter and cheat you, and demoralise society. When you allow _your_ aristocracy to take the reins, you will be better governed, and your morals will improve by example. What is the situation of America at present? the aristocracy of the country are either in retirement or have migrated, and if the power of the majority should continue as it now does its despotic rule, you will have still farther emigration. At present there are many hundreds of Americans who have retired to the Old Continent, that they may receive that return for their wealth which they cannot in their own country; and if not flattered, they are at least not insulted and degraded.
Mr Sanderson, in his ”Sketches from Paris,” says--”The American society at Paris, taken altogether, is of a good composition. It consists of several hundred persons, of families of fortune, and young men of liberal instruction. Here are lords of cotton from Carolina, and of sugar-cane from the Mississippi, _millionaires_ from all the Canadas, and pursers from all the navies; and their social qualities, from a sense of mutual dependence or partners.h.i.+p in absence, or some such causes, are more active abroad than at home.
”They form a little republic apart, and when a stranger arrives he finds himself at home; he finds himself also under the censorial inspection of a public opinion, a salutary restraint not always the luck of those who travel into foreign countries. One thing only is to be blamed: it becomes every day more the fas.h.i.+on for the _elite_ of our cities to settle themselves here _permanently_. We cannot but deplore this exportation of the precious metals, since our country is drained of what the supply is not too abundant. They who have resided here a few years, having fortune and leisure, do not choose, as I perceive, to reside anywhere else.”
This is the fact; and as the wealth of America increases every day, so will those who possess it swarm off as fast as they can to other countries, if there is not a change in the present society, and a return to something like order and rank. Who would remain in a country where there is no freedom of thought or action, and where you cannot even spend your money as you please? Mr Butler the other day built a house at Philadelphia with a _porte-cochere_, and the consequence was that they called him an aristocrat, and would not vote for him. In short, will enlightened and refined people live to be dictated to by a savage and ignorant majority, who will neither allow your character nor your domestic privacy to be safe!
The Americans, in their fear of their inst.i.tutions giving way, and their careful guard against any encroachments upon the liberty of the people, have fallen into the error of sacrificing the most virtuous portion of the community, and driving a large portion of them out of the country.
This will eventually be found to be a serious evil; absenteeism will daily increase, and will be as sorely felt as it is in Ireland at the present hour. The Americans used to tell me with exultation, that they never could have an Aristocracy in their country, from the law of entail having been abolished. They often a.s.serted, and with some truth, that in that country property never acc.u.mulated beyond two generations, and that the grandson of a _millionaire_ was _invariably_ a pauper. This they ascribe to the working of their inst.i.tutions, and argue that it will always be impossible for any family to be raised above the ma.s.s by a descent of property. Now the very circ.u.mstance of this having been invariably the case, induces me to look for the real cause of it, as there is none to be found in their inst.i.tutions why all the grandsons of _millionaires_ should be paupers. It is not owing to their inst.i.tutions, but to moral causes, which, although they have existed until now, will not exist for ever. In the princ.i.p.al and wealthiest cities in the Union, it is difficult to spend more than twelve or fifteen thousand dollars per annum, as with such an expenditure you are on a par with the highest, and you can be no more. What is the consequence? a young American succeeds to fifty or sixty thousand dollars a year, the surplus is useless to him; there is no one to vie with--no one who can reciprocate--he must stand alone. He naturally feels careless about what he finds to be of no use to him. Again, all his friends and acquaintances are actively employed during the whole of the day in their several occupations; he is a man of leisure, and must either remain alone or a.s.sociate with other men of leisure; and who are the majority of men of leisure in the towns of the United States?
Blacklegs of genteel exterior and fas.h.i.+onable appearance, with whom he a.s.sociates, into whose snares he falls, and to whom he eventually loses property about which he is indifferent. To be an idle man when every body else is busy, is not only a great unhappiness, but a situation of great peril. Had the sons of _millionaires_, who remained in the States and left their children paupers, come over to the old Continent, as many have done, they would have stood a better chance of retaining their property.
All I can say is, that if they cannot have an aristocracy, the worse for them; I am not of the opinion, that they will not have one, although they are supported by the strong authority of M. Tocqueville, who says--”I do not think a single people can be quoted, since human society began to exist, which has, by its own free-will and by its own exertions, created an aristocracy within its own bosom. All the aristocracies of the Middle Ages were founded by military conquest: the conqueror was the n.o.ble, the vanquished became the serf. Inequality was then imposed by force; and after it had been introduced into the manners of the country, it maintained its own authority, and was sanctioned by the legislation. Communities have existed which were aristocratic from their earliest origin, owing to circ.u.mstances anterior to that event, and which became more democratic in each succeeding age. Such was the destiny of the Romans, and of the barbarians after them. But a people, having taken its rise in civilisation and democracy, which should gradually establish an inequality of conditions, until it arrived at inviolable privileges and exclusive castes, would be a novelty in the world and nothing intimates that America is likely to furnish so singular an example.”
I grant that no single people has by its own free-will created an aristocracy, but circ.u.mstances will make one in spite of the people; and if there is no aristocracy who have power to check, a despotism may be the evil arising from the want of it. At present America is thinly peopled, but let them look forward to the time when the population shall become denser; what will then be the effect? why a division between the rich and the poor will naturally take place; and what is that but the foundation if not the formation of an aristocracy. An American cannot entail his estate, but he can leave the whole of it to his eldest son if he pleases; and in a few years, the lands which have been purchased for a trifle, will become the foundation of n.o.ble fortunes [see Note 2] but even now their law of non-entail does not work as they would wish.
M. Tocqueville says--”The laws of the United States are extremely favourable to the division of property; but a cause which is more powerful than the laws prevents property from being divided to excess.