Utility of knowing the Origin of Nations in order to understand their social Condition and their Laws.—America the only Country in which the Starting-Point of a great People has been clearly observable.—In what respects all who emigrated to British America were similar.—In what they differed.—Remark applicable to all the Europeans who established themselves on the shores of the New World.—Colonization1 of Virginia.—Colonization of New England.—Original Character of the first inhabitants of New England.—Their Arrival.—Their first Laws.—Their social Contract.—Penal2 Code borrowed from the Hebrew Legislation.—Religious Fervor3.—Republican Spirit.—Intimate union of the Spirit of Religion with the Spirit of Liberty.
After the birth of a human being, his early years are obscurely spent in the toils4 or pleasures of childhood. As he grows up, the world receives him, when his manhood begins, and he enters into contact with his fellows. He is then studied for the first time, and it is imagined that the germe of the vices5 and the virtues7 of his maturer years is then formed.
This, if I am not mistaken, is a great error. We must begin higher up; we must watch the infant in his mother's arms; we must see the first images which the external world casts upon the dark mirror of his mind; the first occurrences which he beholds8; we must hear the first words which awaken10 the sleeping powers of thought, and stand by his earliest efforts, if we would understand the prejudices, the habits, and the passions, which will rule his life. The entire man is, so to speak, to be seen in the cradle of the child.
The growth of nations presents something analogous11 to this; they all bear some marks of their origin; and the circumstances which accompanied their birth and contributed to their rise, affect the whole term of their being.
If we were able to go back to the elements of states, and to examine the oldest monuments of their history, I doubt not that we should discover the primary cause of the prejudices, the habits, the ruling passions, and in short of all that constitutes what is called the national character: we should then find the explanation of certain customs which now seem at variance12 with prevailing13 manners, of such laws as conflict with established principles, and of such incoherent opinions as are here and there to be met with in society, like those fragments of broken chains which we sometimes see hanging from the vault14 of an edifice15, and supporting nothing. This might explain the destinies of certain nations which seem borne along by an unknown force to ends of which they themselves are ignorant. But hitherto facts have been wanting to researches of this kind: the spirit of inquiry16 has only come upon communities in their latter days; and when they at length turned their attention to contemplate17 their origin, time had already obscured it, or ignorance and pride adorned18 it with truth-concealing fables19.
America is the only country in which it has been possible to study the natural and tranquil20 growth of society, and where the influence exercised on the future condition of states by their origin is clearly distinguishable.
At the period when the people of Europe landed in the New World, their national characteristics were already completely formed; each of them had a physiognomy of its own; and as they had already attained21 that stage of civilisation22 at which men are led to study themselves, they have transmitted to us a faithful picture of their opinions, their manners, and their laws. The men of the sixteenth century are almost as well known to us as our contemporaries. America consequently exhibits in the broad light of day the phenomena23 which the ignorance or rudeness of earlier ages conceals24 from our researches. Near enough to the time when the states of America were founded to be accurately25 acquainted with their elements, and sufficiently26 removed from that period to judge of some of their results. The men of our own day seem destined27 to see farther than their predecessors28 into the series of human events. Providence29 has given us a torch which our forefathers30 did not possess, and has allowed us to discern fundamental causes in the history of the world which the obscurity of the past concealed31 from them.
If we carefully examine the social and political state of America, after having studied its history, we shall remain perfectly33 convinced that not an opinion, not a custom, not a law, I may even say not an event, is upon record which the origin of that people will not explain. The readers of this book will find the germe of all that is to follow in the present chapter, and the key to almost the whole work.
The emigrants34 who came at different periods to occupy the territory now covered by the American union, differed from each other in many respects; their aim was not the same, and they governed themselves on different principles.
These men had, however, certain features in common, and they were all placed in an analogous situation. The tie of language is perhaps the strongest and most durable35 that can unite mankind. All the emigrants spoke36 the same tongue; they were all offsets37 from the same people. Born in a country which had been agitated38 for centuries by the struggles of faction39, and in which all parties had been obliged in their turn to place themselves under the protection of the laws, their political education had been perfected in this rude school, and they were more conversant40 with the notions of right, and the principles of true freedom, than the greater part of their European contemporaries. At the period of the first emigrations, the parish system, that fruitful germe of free institutions, was deeply rooted in the habits of the English; and with it the doctrine41 of the sovereignty of the people had been introduced even into the bosom43 of the monarchy44 of the house of Tudor.
The religious quarrels which have agitated the Christian45 world were then rife46. England had plunged47 into the new order of things with headlong vehemence48. The character of its inhabitants, which had always been sedate49 and reflecting, became argumentative and austere50. General information had been increased by intellectual debate, and the mind had received a deeper cultivation51. While religion was the topic of discussion, the morals of the people were reformed. All these national features are more or less discoverable in the physiognomy of those adventurers who came to seek a new home on the opposite shores of the Atlantic.
Another remark, to which we shall hereafter have occasion to recur52, is applicable not only to the English, but to the French, the Spaniards, and all the Europeans who successively established themselves in the New World. All these European colonies contained the elements, if not the development of a complete democracy. Two causes led to this result. It may safely be advanced, that on leaving the mother-country the emigrants had in general no notion of superiority over one another. The happy and the powerful do not go into exile, and there are no surer guarantees of equality among men than poverty and misfortune. It happened, however, on several occasions that persons of rank were driven to America by political and religious quarrels. Laws were made to establish a gradation of ranks; but it was soon found that the soil of America was entirely53 opposed to a territorial54 aristocracy. To bring that refractory55 land into cultivation, the constant and interested exertions56 of the owner himself were necessary; and when the ground was prepared, its produce was found to be insufficient57 to enrich a master and a farmer at the same time. The land was then naturally broken up into small portions, which the proprietor58 cultivated for himself. Land is the basis of an aristocracy, which clings to the soil that supports it; for it is not by privileges alone, nor by birth, but by landed property handed down from generation to generation, that an aristocracy is constituted. A nation may present immense fortunes and extreme wretchedness; but unless those fortunes are territorial, there is no aristocracy, but simply the class of the rich and that of the poor.
All the British colonies had then a great degree of similarity at the epoch59 of their settlement. All of them, from their first beginning, seemed destined to behold9 the growth, not of the aristocratic liberty of their mother-country, but of that freedom of the middle and lower orders of which the history of the world has as yet furnished no complete example.
In this general uniformity several striking differences were however discernible, which it is necessary to point out. Two branches may be distinguished60 in the Anglo-American family, which have hitherto grown up without entirely commingling61; the one in the south, the other in the north.
Virginia received the first English colony; the emigrants took possession of it in 1607. The idea that mines of gold and silver are the sources of national wealth, was at that time singularly prevalent in Europe; a fatal delusion62, which has done more to impoverish63 the nations which adopted it, and has cost more lives in America, than the united influence of war and bad laws. The men sent to Virginia{14} were seekers of gold, adventurers without resources and without character, whose turbulent and restless spirits endangered the infant colony,{15} and rendered its progress uncertain. The artisans and agriculturists arrived afterward64; and although they were a more moral and orderly race of men, they were in nowise above the level of the inferior classes in England.{16} No lofty conceptions, no intellectual system directed the foundation of these new settlements. The colony was scarcely established when slavery was introduced,{17} and this was the main circumstance which has exercised so prodigious65 an influence on the character, the laws, and all the future prospects66 of the south.
Slavery, as we shall afterward show, dishonors labor67; it introduces idleness into society, and, with idleness, ignorance and pride, luxury and distress68. It enervates69 the powers of the mind, and benumbs the activity of man. The influence of slavery, united to the English character, explains the mariners70 and the social condition of the southern states.
In the north, the same English foundation was modified by the most opposite shades of character; and here I may be allowed to enter into some details. The two or three main ideas which constitute the basis of the social theory of the United States, were first combined in the northern British colonies, more generally denominated the states of New England.{18} The principles of New England spread at first to the neighboring states; they then passed successively to the more distant ones; and at length they embued the whole confederation. They now extend their influence beyond its limits over the whole American world. The civilisation of New England has been like a beacon71 lit upon a hill, which, after it has diffused72 its warmth around, tinges73 the distant horizon with its glow.
The foundation of New England was a novel spectacle, and all the circumstances attending it were singular and original. The large majority of colonies have been first inhabited either by men without education and without resources, driven by their poverty and their misconduct from the land which gave them birth, or by speculators and adventurers greedy of gain. Some settlements cannot even boast so honorable an origin: St. Domingo was founded by buccaneers; and, at the present day, the criminal courts of England supply the population of Australia.
The settlers who established themselves on the shores of New England all belonged to the more independent classes of their native country. Their union on the soil of America at once presented the singular phenomenon of a society containing neither lords nor common people, neither rich nor poor. These men possessed74, in proportion to their number, a greater mass of intelligence than is to be found in any European nation of our own time. All, without a single exception, had received a good education, and many of them were known in Europe for their talents and their acquirements. The other colonies had been founded by adventurers without family; the emigrants of New England brought with them the best elements of order and morality, they landed in the desert accompanied by their wives and children. But what most especially distinguished them was the aim of their undertaking75. They had not been obliged by necessity to leave their country, the social position they abandoned was one to be regretted, and their means of subsistence were certain. Nor did they cross the Atlantic to improve their situation, or to increase their wealth; the call which summoned them from the comforts of their homes was purely76 intellectual; and in facing the inevitable77 sufferings of exile, their object was the triumph of an idea.
The emigrants, or, as they deservedly styled themselves, the pilgrims, belonged to that English sect78, the austerity of whose principles had acquired for them the name of puritans. Puritanism was not merely a religious doctrine, but it corresponded in many points with the most absolute democratic and republican theories. It was this tendency which had aroused its most dangerous adversaries80. Persecuted81 by the government of the mother-country, and disgusted by the habits of a society opposed to the rigor82 of their own principles, the puritans went forth83 to seek some rude and unfrequented part of the world, where they could live according to their own opinions, and worship God in freedom.
A few quotations84 will throw more light upon the spirit of these pious85 adventurers than all we can say of them. Nathaniel Morton,{19} the historian of the first years of the settlement, thus opens his subject:—
"GENTLE READER: I have for some length of time looked upon it as a duty incumbent86, especially on the immediate88 successors of those that have had so large experience of those many memorable89 and signal demonstrations90 of God's goodness, viz., the first beginning of this plantation91 in New England, to commit to writing his gracious dispensations on that behalf; having so many inducements thereunto, not only otherwise, but so plentifully93 in the Sacred Scriptures94: that so, what we have seen, and what our fathers have told us (Psalm lxxviii., 3, 4), we may not hide from our children, showing to the generations to come the praises of the Lord; that especially the seed of Abraham his servant, and the children of Jacob his chosen (Psalm cv., 5, 6), may remember his marvellous works in the beginning and progress of the planting of New England, his wonders and the judgments96 of his mouth; how that God brought a vine into this wilderness98; that he cast out the heathen and planted it; that he made room for it, and caused it to take deep root; and it filled the land (Psalm lxxx., 8, 9). And not onely so, but also that he hath guided his people by his strength to his holy habitation, and planted them in the mountain of his inheritance in respect of precious gospel enjoyments100: and that as especially God may have the glory of all unto whom it is most due; so also some rays of glory may reach the names of those blessed saints, that were the main instruments and the beginning of this happy enterprise."
It is impossible to read this opening paragraph without an involuntary feeling of religious awe101; it breathes the very savor102 of gospel antiquity103. The sincerity104 of the author heightens his power of language. The band, which to his eyes was a mere79 party of adventurers, gone forth to seek their fortune beyond the seas, appears to the reader as the germe of a great nation wafted105 by Providence to a predestined shore.
"So they left that goodly and pleasant city of Leyden, which had been their resting-place for above eleven years; but they knew that they were pilgrims and strangers here below, and looked not much on these things, but lifted up their eyes to Heaven, their dearest country, where God hath prepared for them a city (Heb. xi., 16), and therein quieted their spirits. When they came to Delfs-Haven107 they found the ship and all things ready; and such of their friends as could come with them, followed after them, and sundry108 came from Amsterdam to see them shipt, and to take their leaves of them. One night was spent with little sleep with the most, but with friendly entertainment and Christian discourse109, and other real expressions of true Christian love. The next day they went on board, and their friends with them, where truly doleful was the sight of that sad and mournful parting, to hear what sighs and sobs110 and prayers did sound among them; what tears did gush111 from every eye, and pithy112 speeches pierced each other's heart, that sundry of the Dutch strangers that stood on the key as spectators could not refrain from tears. But the tide (which stays for no man) calling them away that were thus loath113 to depart, their reverend pastor114 falling down on his knees, and they all with him, with watery115 cheeks commended them with most fervent116 prayers unto the Lord and his blessing117; and then, with mutual118 embraces and many tears, they took their leaves one of another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them."
The emigrants were about 150 in number, including the women and the children. Their object was to plant a colony on the shores of the Hudson; but after having been driven about for some time in the Atlantic ocean, they were forced to land on that arid119 coast of New England which is now the site of the town of Plymouth. The rock is still shown on which the pilgrims disembarked.{20}
"But before we pass on," continues our historian, "let the reader with me make a pause, and seriously consider this poor people's present condition, the more to be raised up to admiration120 of God's goodness toward them in their preservation121: for being now passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before them in expectation, they had now no friends to welcome them, no inns to entertain or refresh them, no houses, or much less towns to repair unto to seek for succor122; and for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of the country know them to be sharp and violent, subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search unknown coasts. Besides, what could they see but a hideous123 and desolate124 wilderness, full of wilde beasts, and wilde men? and what multitudes of them there were, they then knew not: for which way soever they turned their eyes (save upward to Heaven) they could have but little solace125 or content in respect of any outward object; for summer being ended, all things stand in appearance with a weather-beaten face, and the whole country full of woods and thickets126 represented a wild and savage127 hue128; if they looked behind them, there was the mighty129 ocean which they had passed, and was now as a main bar or gulph to separate them from all the civil parts of the world."
It must not be imagined that the piety130 of the puritans was of a merely speculative131 kind, or that it took no cognizance of the course of worldly affairs. Puritanism, as I have already remarked, was scarcely less a political than a religious doctrine. No sooner had the emigrants landed on the barren coast, described by Nathaniel Morton, than their first care was to constitute a society, by passing the following act:{21}—
"IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN! We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread132 sovereign lord King James, &c., &c., having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement133 of the Christian faith, and the honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia: do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant134 and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic32, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid: and by virtue6 hereof do enact135, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances136, acts, constitutions, and officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony: unto which we promise all due submission137 and obedience138," &c.{22}
This happened in 1620, and from that time forward the emigration went on. The religious and political passions which ravished the British empire during the whole reign42 of Charles I., drove fresh crowds of sectarians every year to the shores of America. In England the stronghold of puritanism was in the middle classes, and it was from the middle classes that the majority of the emigrants came. The population of New England increased rapidly; and while the hierarchy139 of rank despotically classed the inhabitants of the mother-country, the colony continued to present the novel spectacle of a community homogeneous in all its parts. A democracy, more perfect than any which antiquity had dreamed of, started in full size and panoply140 from the midst of an ancient feudal141 society.
The English government was not dissatisfied with an emigration which removed the elements of fresh discord142 and of future revolutions. On the contrary, everything was done to encourage it, and little attention was paid to the destiny of those who sought a shelter from the rigor of their country's laws on the soil of America. It seemed as if New England was a region given up to the dreams of fancy, and the unrestrained experiments of innovators.
The English colonies (and this is one of the main causes of their prosperity) have always enjoyed more internal freedom and more political independence than the colonies of other nations; but this principle of liberty was nowhere more extensively applied143 than in the states of New England.
It was generally allowed at that period that the territories of the New World belonged to that European nation which had been the first to discover them. Nearly the whole coast of North America thus became a British possession toward the end of the sixteenth century. The means used by the English government to people these new domains145 were of several kinds: the king sometimes appointed a governor of his own choice, who ruled a portion of the New World in the name and under the immediate orders of the crown;{23} this is the colonial system adopted by the other countries of Europe. Sometimes grants of certain tracts146 were made by the crown to an individual or to a company,{24} in which case all the civil and political power fell into the hands of one or more persons, who, under the inspection147 and control of the crown, sold the lands and governed the inhabitants. Lastly, a third system consisted in allowing a certain number of emigrants to constitute a political society under the protection of the mother-country, and to govern themselves in whatever was not contrary to her laws. This mode of colonization, so remarkably148 favorable to liberty, was adopted only in New England.{25}
In 1628,{26} a charter of this kind was granted by Charles I. to the emigrants who went to form the colony of Massachusetts. But, in general, charters were not given to the colonies of New England till they had acquired a certain existence. Plymouth, Providence, New Haven, the state of Connecticut, and that of Rhode Island,{27} were founded without the co-operation, and almost without the knowledge of the mother-country. The new settlers did not derive149 their incorporation150 from the head of the empire, although they did not deny its supremacy151; they constituted a society of their own accord, and it was not till thirty or forty years afterward, under Charles II., that their existence was legally recognised by a royal charter.
This frequently renders it difficult to detect the link which connected the emigrants with the land of their forefathers, in studying the earliest historical and legislative152 records of New England. They perpetually exercised the rights of sovereignty; they named their magistrates153, concluded peace or declared war, made police regulations, and enacted155 laws, as if their allegiance was due only to God.{28} Nothing can be more curious, and at the same time more instructive than the legislation of that period; it is there that the solution of the great social problem which the United States now present to the world is to be found.
Among these documents we shall notice as especially characteristic, the code of laws promulgated156 by the little state of Connecticut in 1650.{29}
The legislators of Connecticut{30} begin with the penal laws, and, strange to say, they borrow their provisions from the text of holy writ92.
"Whoever shall worship any other God than the Lord," says the preamble157 of the code, "shall surely be put to death." This is followed by ten or twelve enactments158 of the same kind, copied verbatim from the books of Exodus159, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Blasphemy160, sorcery, adultery,{31} and rape161 were punished with death; an outrage162 offered by a son to his parents, was to be expiated163 by the same penalty. The legislation of a rude and half-civilized people was thus transferred to an enlightened and moral community. The consequence was, that the punishment of death was never more frequently prescribed by the statute164, and never more rarely enforced toward the guilty.
The chief care of the legislators, in this body of penal laws, was the maintenance of orderly conduct and good morals in the community: they constantly invaded the domain144 of conscience, and there was scarcely a sin which they did not subject to magisterial165 censure166. The reader is aware of the rigor with which these laws punished rape and adultery; intercourse167 between unmarried persons was likewise severely168 repressed. The judge was empowered to inflict169 a pecuniary170 penalty, a whipping, or marriage,{32} on the misdemeanants; and if the records of the old courts of New Haven may be believed, prosecutions171 of this kind were not infrequent. We find a sentence bearing date the first of May, 1660, inflicting172 a fine and a reprimand on a young woman who was accused of using improper173 language, and of allowing herself to be kissed.{33} The code of 1650 abounds174 in preventive measures. It punishes idleness and drunkenness with severity.{34} Innkeepers are forbidden to furnish more than a certain quantity of liquor to each customer; and simple lying, whenever it may be injurious,{35} is checked by a fine or a flogging. In other places, the legislator, entirely forgetting the great principles of religious toleration which he had himself upheld in Europe, renders attendance on divine service compulsory,{36} and goes so far as to visit with severe punishment,{37} and even with death, the Christians175 who chose to worship God according to a ritual differing from his own.{38} Sometimes indeed, the zeal176 of his enactments induces him to descend177 to the most frivolous178 particulars: thus a law is to be found in the same code which prohibits the use of tobacco.{39} It must not be forgotten that these fantastical and vexatious laws were not imposed by authority, but that they were freely voted by all the persons interested, and that the manners of the community were even more austere and more puritanical179 than the laws. In 1649 a solemn association was formed in Boston to check the worldly luxury of long hair.{40}
These errors are no doubt discreditable to the human reason; they attest180 the inferiority of our nature, which is incapable181 of laying firm hold upon what is true and just, and is often reduced to the alternative of two excesses. In strict connection with this penal legislation, which bears such striking marks of a narrow sectarian spirit, and of those religious passions which had been warmed by persecution182, and were still fermenting183 among the people, a body of political laws is to be found, which, though written two hundred years ago, is still ahead of the liberties of our age.
The general principles which are the groundwork of modern constitutions—principles which were imperfectly known in Europe, and not completely triumphant184 even in Great Britain, in the seventeenth century—were all recognised and determined185 by the laws of New England: the intervention186 of the people in public affairs, the free voting of taxes, the responsibility of authorities, personal liberty, and trial by jury, were all positively187 established without discussion.
From these fruitful principles, consequences have been derived188 and applications have been made such as no nation in Europe has yet ventured to attempt.
In Connecticut the electoral body consisted, from its origin, of the whole number of citizens; and this is readily to be understood,{41} when we recollect189 that this people enjoyed an almost perfect equality of fortune, and a still greater uniformity of capacity.{42} In Connecticut, at this period, all the executive functionaries190 were elected, including the governor of the state.{43} The citizens above the age of sixteen were obliged to bear arms; they formed a national militia191, which appointed its own officers, and was to hold itself at all times in readiness to march for the defence of the country.{44}
In the laws of Connecticut, as well as in those of New England, we find the germe and gradual development of that township independence, which is the life and mainspring of American liberty at the present day. The political existence of the majority of the nations of Europe commenced in the superior ranks of society, and was gradually and always imperfectly communicated to the different members of the social body. In America, on the other hand, it may be said that the township was organized before the county, the county before the state, the state before the union.
In New England, townships were completely and definitively192 constituted as early as 1650. The independence of the township was the nucleus193 around which the local interests, passions, rights, and duties, collected and clung. It gave scope to the activity of a real political life, most thoroughly194 democratic and republican. The colonies still recognised the supremacy of the mother-country; monarchy was still the law of the state; but the republic was already established in every township.
The towns named their own magistrates of every kind, rated themselves, and levied195 their own taxes.{45} In the townships of New England the law of representation was not adopted, but the affairs of the community were discussed, as at Athens, in the market-place, by a general assembly of the citizens.
In studying the laws which were promulgated at this first era of the American republics, it is impossible not to be struck by the remarkable196 acquaintance with the science of government, and the advanced theory of legislation, which they display. The ideas there formed of the duties of society toward its members, are evidently much loftier and more comprehensive than those of the European legislators at that time: obligations were there imposed which were elsewhere slighted. In the states of New England, from the first, the condition of the poor was provided for;{46} strict measures were taken for the maintenance of roads, and surveyors were appointed to attend to them;{47} registers were established in every parish, in which the results of public deliberations, and the births, deaths, and marriages of the citizens were entered;{48} clerks were directed to keep these registers;{49} officers were charged with the administration of vacant inheritances, and with the arbitration197 of litigated landmarks198; and many others were created whose chief functions were the maintenance of public order in the community.{50} The law enters into a thousand useful provisions for a number of social wants which are at present very inadequately199 felt in France.
But it is by the attention it pays to public education that the original character of American civilisation is at once placed in the clearest light. "It being," says the law, "one chief project of Satan to keep men from the knowledge of the Scripture95 by persuading from the use of tongues, to the end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth200, the Lord assisting our endeavors."{51} Here follow clauses establishing schools in every township, and obliging the inhabitants, under pain of heavy fines, to support them. Schools of a superior kind were founded in the same manner in the more populous201 districts. The municipal authorities were bound to enforce the sending of children to school by their parents; they were empowered to inflict fines upon all who refused compliance202; and in cases of continued resistance, society assumed the place of the parent, took possession of the child, and deprived the father of those natural rights which he used to so bad a purpose. The reader will undoubtedly203 have remarked the preamble of these enactments: in America, religion is the road to knowledge, and the observance of the divine laws leads men to civil freedom.
If, after having cast a rapid glance over the state of American society in 1650, we turn to the condition of Europe, and more especially to that of the continent, at the same period, we cannot fail to be struck with astonishment204. On the continent of Europe, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, absolute monarchy had everywhere triumphed over the ruins of the oligarchical205 and feudal liberties of the middle ages. Never were the notions of right more completely confounded than in the midst of the splendor206 and literature of Europe; never was there less political activity among the people; never were the principles of true freedom less widely circulated, and at that very time, those principles, which were scorned or unknown by the nations of Europe, were proclaimed in the deserts of the New World, and were accepted as the future creed207 of a great people. The boldest theories of the human reason were put into practice by a community so humble208, that not a statesman condescended209 to attend to it; and a legislation without precedent210 was produced off-hand by the imagination of the citizens. In the bosom of this obscure democracy, which had as yet brought forth neither generals, nor philosophers, nor authors, a man might stand up in the face of a free people, and pronounce amid general acclamations the following fine definition of liberty:{52}—
"Nor would I have you to mistake in the point of your own liberty. There is a liberty of corrupt211 nature, which is affected212 both by men and beasts to do what they list; and this liberty is inconsistent with authority, impatient of all restraint; by this liberty 'sumus omnes deteriores;' it is the grand enemy of truth and peace, and all the ordinances of God are bent87 against it. But there is a civil, a moral, a federal liberty, which is the proper end and object of authority; it is a liberty for that only which is just and good: for this liberty you are to stand with the hazard of your very lives, and whatsoever213 crosses it is not authority, but a distemper thereof. This liberty is maintained in a way of subjection to authority; and the authority set over you will, in all administrations for your good, be quietly submitted unto by all but such as have a disposition214 to shake off the yoke215 and lose their true liberty, by their murmuring at the honor and power of authority."
The remarks I have made will suffice to display the character of Anglo-American civilisation in its true light. It is the result (and this should be constantly present to the mind) of two distinct elements, which in other places have been in frequent hostility216, but which in America have admirably incorporated and combined with one another. I allude217 to the spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty.
The settlers of New England were at the same time ardent218 sectarians and daring innovators. Narrow as the limits of some of their religious opinions were, they were entirely free from political prejudices.
Hence arose two tendencies, distinct but not opposite, which are constantly discernible in the manners as well as in the laws of the country.
It might be imagined that men who sacrificed their friends, their family, and their native land, to a religious conviction, were absorbed in the pursuit of the intellectual advantages which they purchased at so dear a rate. The energy, however, with which they strove for the acquirements of wealth, moral enjoyment99, and the comforts as well as the liberties of the world, was scarcely inferior to that with which they devoted219 themselves to Heaven.
Political principles, and all human laws and institutions were moulded and altered at their pleasure; the barriers of the society in which they were born were broken down before them; the old principles which had governed the world for ages were no more; a path without a turn, and a field without a horizon, were opened to the exploring and ardent curiosity of man; but at the limits of the political world he checks his researches, he discreetly220 lays aside the use of his most formidable faculties221, he no longer consents to doubt or to innovate222, but carefully abstaining223 from raising the curtain of the sanctuary224, he yields with submissive respect to truths which he will not discuss.
Thus in the moral world, everything is classed, adapted, decided225, and foreseen; in the political world everything is agitated, uncertain, and disputed: in the one is a passive, though a voluntary obedience; in the other an independence, scornful of experience and jealous of authority.
These two tendencies, apparently226 so discrepant227, are far from conflicting; they advance together, and mutually support each other.
Religion perceives that civil liberty affords a noble exercise to the faculties of man, and that the political world is a field prepared by the Creator for the efforts of the intelligence. Contented228 with the freedom and the power which it enjoys in its own sphere, and with the place which it occupies, the empire of religion is never more surely established than when it reigns229 in the hearts of men unsupported by aught besides its native strength.
Religion is no less the companion of liberty in all its battles and its triumphs; the cradle of its infancy230, and the divine source of its claims. The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law as well as the surest pledge of freedom.
REASONS OF CERTAIN ANOMALIES WHICH THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS PRESENT.
Remains231 of aristocratic Institutions in the midst of a complete Democracy.—Why?—Distinction carefully to be drawn232 between what is of Puritanical and what is of English Origin.
The reader is cautioned not to draw too general or too absolute an inference from what has been said. The social condition, the religion, and the manners of the first emigrants undoubtedly exercised an immense influence on the destiny of their new country. Nevertheless it was not in their power to found a state of things originating solely233 in themselves; no man can entirely shake off the influence of the past, and the settlers, unintentionally or involuntarily, mingled234 habits derived from their education and from the traditions of their country, with those habits and notions which were exclusively their own. To form a judgment97 on the Anglo-Americans of the present day, it is therefore necessary carefully to distinguish what is of puritanical from what is of English origin.
Laws and customs are frequently to be met with in the United States which contrast strongly with all that surrounds them. These laws seem to be drawn up in a spirit contrary to the prevailing tenor235 of the American legislation; and these customs are no less opposed to the general tone of society. If the English colonies had been founded in an age of darkness, or if their origin was already lost in the lapse236 of years, the problem would be insoluble.
I shall quote a single example to illustrate237 what I advance.
The civil and criminal procedure of the Americans has only two means of action—committal or bail238. The first measure taken by the magistrate154 is to exact security from the defendant239, or, in case of refusal, to incarcerate240 him: the ground of the accusation241, and the importance of the charges against him are then discussed.
It is evident that a legislation of this kind is hostile to the poor man, and favorable only to the rich. The poor man has not always a security to produce, even in a civil cause: and if he is obliged to wait for justice in prison, he is speedily reduced to distress. The wealthy individual, on the contrary, always escapes imprisonment242 in civil causes; nay243, more, he may readily elude244 the punishment which awaits him for a delinquency, by breaking his bail. So that all the penalties of the law are, for him, reducible to fines.{54} Nothing can be more aristocratic than this system of legislation. Yet in America it is the poor who make the law, and they usually reserve the greatest social advantages to themselves. The explanation of the phenomenon is to be found in England; the laws of which I speak are English,{55} and the Americans have retained them, however repugnant they may be to the tenor of their legislation, and the mass of their ideas.
Next to its habits, the thing which a nation is least apt to change is its civil legislation. Civil laws are only familiarly known to legal men, whose direct interest it is to maintain them as they are, whether good or bad, simply because they themselves are conversant with them. The body of the nation is scarcely acquainted with them: it merely perceives their action in particular cases; but it has some difficulty in seizing their tendency, and obeys them without reflection.
I have quoted one instance where it would have been easy to adduce a great number of others.
The surface of American society is, if I may use the expression, covered with a layer of democracy, from beneath which the old aristocratic colors sometimes peep.
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1
colonization
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| 殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖 | |
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penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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toils
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| 网 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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beholds
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| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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fables
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| n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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conceals
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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offsets
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| n.开端( offset的名词复数 )；出发v.抵消( offset的第三人称单数 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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42
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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48
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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49
sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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50
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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51
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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52
recur
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| vi.复发，重现，再发生 | |
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53
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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54
territorial
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| adj.领土的，领地的 | |
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55
refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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56
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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57
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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58
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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59
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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60
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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61
commingling
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的现在分词 ) | |
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62
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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63
impoverish
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| vt.使穷困，使贫困 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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65
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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66
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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67
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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68
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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69
enervates
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| v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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70
mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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71
beacon
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| n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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73
tinges
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| n.细微的色彩，一丝痕迹( tinge的名词复数 ) | |
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74
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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75
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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81
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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82
rigor
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| n.严酷，严格，严厉 | |
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83
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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86
incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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87
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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88
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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92
writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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94
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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95
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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96
judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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97
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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98
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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99
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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100
enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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101
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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102
savor
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| vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味 | |
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103
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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104
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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105
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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106
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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107
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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108
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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109
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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110
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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111
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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112
pithy
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| adj.(讲话或文章)简练的 | |
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113
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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114
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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115
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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116
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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117
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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118
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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119
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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120
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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121
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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122
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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123
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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124
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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125
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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126
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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127
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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128
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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129
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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130
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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131
speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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132
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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133
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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134
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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135
enact
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| vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演 | |
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136
ordinances
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| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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137
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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138
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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139
hierarchy
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| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
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140
panoply
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| n.全副甲胄，礼服 | |
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141
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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142
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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143
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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144
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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145
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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146
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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147
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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148
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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149
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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150
incorporation
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| n.设立，合并，法人组织 | |
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151
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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152
legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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153
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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154
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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155
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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156
promulgated
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| v.宣扬（某事物）( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 )；传播；公布；颁布（法令、新法律等） | |
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157
preamble
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| n.前言；序文 | |
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158
enactments
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| n.演出( enactment的名词复数 )；展现；规定；通过 | |
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159
exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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160
blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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161
rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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162
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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163
expiated
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| v.为（所犯罪过）接受惩罚，赎（罪）( expiate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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164
statute
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| n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例 | |
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165
magisterial
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| adj.威风的，有权威的；adv.威严地 | |
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166
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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167
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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168
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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169
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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170
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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171
prosecutions
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| 起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事 | |
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172
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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173
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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174
abounds
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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175
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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176
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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177
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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178
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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179
puritanical
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|
| adj.极端拘谨的；道德严格的 | |
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180
attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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181
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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182
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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183
fermenting
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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184
triumphant
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|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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185
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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186
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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187
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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188
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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189
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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190
functionaries
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| n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 ) | |
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191
militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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192
definitively
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| adv.决定性地，最后地 | |
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193
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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194
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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195
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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196
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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197
arbitration
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| n.调停，仲裁 | |
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198
landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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199
inadequately
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| ad.不够地；不够好地 | |
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200
commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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201
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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202
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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203
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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204
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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205
oligarchical
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| adj.寡头政治的，主张寡头政治的 | |
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206
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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207
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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208
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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209
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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210
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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211
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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212
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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213
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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214
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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215
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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216
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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217
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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218
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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219
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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220
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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221
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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222
innovate
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| v.革新，变革，创始 | |
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223
abstaining
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| 戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的现在分词 )； 弃权（不投票） | |
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224
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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225
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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226
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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227
discrepant
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| 差异的 | |
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228
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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229
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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230
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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231
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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232
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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233
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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234
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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235
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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236
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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237
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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238
bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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239
defendant
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| n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的 | |
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240
incarcerate
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| v.监禁，禁闭 | |
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241
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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242
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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243
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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244
elude
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| v.躲避，困惑 | |
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