Great Division to be made between Parties.—Parties which are to each other as rival Nations.—Parties properly so called.—Difference between great and small Parties.—Epochs which produce them.—Their Characteristics.—America has had great Parties.—They are extinct.—Federalists.—Republicans.—Defeat of the Federalists.—Difficulty of creating Parties in the United States.—What is done with this Intention.—Aristocratic and democratic Character to be met with in all Parties.—Struggle of General Jackson against the Bank.
A great division must be made between parties. Some countries are so large that the different populations which inhabit them have contradictory1 interests, although they are the subjects of the same government; and they may thence be in a perpetual state of opposition2. In this case the different fractions of the people may more properly be considered as distinct nations than as mere3 parties; and if a civil war breaks out, the struggle is carried off by rival peoples rather than by factions5 in the state.
But when the citizens entertain different opinions upon subjects which affect the whole country alike, such, for instance, as the principles upon which the government is to be conducted, then distinctions arise which may correctly be styled parties. Parties are a necessary evil in free governments; but they have not at all times the same character and the same propensities6.
At certain periods a nation may be oppressed by such insupportable evils as to conceive the design of effecting a total change in its political constitution; at other times the mischief7 lies still deeper, and the existence of society itself is endangered. Such are the times of great revolutions and of great parties. But between these epochs of misery8 and of confusion there are periods during which human society seems to rest, and mankind to make a pause. This pause is, indeed, only apparent; for time does not stop its course for nations any more than for men; they are all advancing toward a goal with which they are unacquainted; and we only imagine them to be stationary9 when their progress escapes our observation; as men who are going at a foot pace seem to be standing10 still to those who run.
But however this may be, there are certain epochs at which the changes that take place in the social and political constitution of nations are so slow and so insensible, that men imagine their present condition to be a final state; and the human mind, believing itself to be firmly based upon certain foundations, does not extend its researches beyond the horizon which it descries11. These are the times of small parties and of intrigue12.
The political parties which I style great are those which cling to principles more than to consequences; to general, and not to especial cases; to ideas, and not to men. These parties are usually distinguished13 by a nobler character, by more generous passions, more genuine convictions, and a more bold and open conduct than the others. In them, private interest, which always plays the chief part in political passions, is more studiously veiled under the pretext14 of the public good; and it may even be sometimes concealed15 from the eyes of the very person whom it excites and impels17.
Minor18 parties are, on the other hand, generally deficient19 in political faith. As they are not sustained or dignified20 by a lofty purpose, they ostensibly display the egotism of their character in their actions. They glow with a factitious zeal21; their language is vehement22, but their conduct is timid and irresolute23. The means they employ are as wretched as the end at which they aim. Hence it arises that when a calm state of things succeeds a violent revolution, the leaders of society seem suddenly to disappear, and the powers of the human mind to lie concealed. Society is convulsed by great parties, by minor ones it is agitated24; it is torn by the former, by the latter it is degraded; and if these sometimes save it by a salutary perturbation, those invariably disturb it to no good end.
America has already lost the great parties which once divided the nation; and if her happiness is considerably25 increased, her morality has suffered by their extinction26. When the war of independence was terminated, and the foundations of the new government were to be laid down, the nation was divided between two opinions—two opinions which are as old as the world, and which are perpetually to be met with under all the forms and all the names which have ever obtained in free communities—the one tending to limit, the other to extend indefinitely, the power of the people. The conflict of these two opinions never assumed that degree of violence in America which it has frequently displayed elsewhere. Both parties of the Americans were in fact agreed upon the most essential points; and neither of them had to destroy a traditionary constitution, or to overthrow27 the structure of society, in order to insure its own triumph. In neither of them, consequently, were a great number of private interests affected28 by success or by defeat; but moral principles of a high order, such as the love of equality and of independence, were concerned in the struggle, and they sufficed to kindle29 violent passions.
The party which desired to limit the power of the people, endeavored to apply its doctrines31 more especially to the constitution of the union, whence it derived32 its name of federal. The other party, which affected to be more exclusively attached to the cause of liberty, took that of republican. America is the land of democracy, and the federalists were always in a minority; but they reckoned on their side almost all the great men who had been called forth33 by the war of independence, and their moral influence was very considerable. Their cause was, moreover, favored by circumstances. The ruin of the confederation had impressed the people with a dread34 of anarchy35, and the federalists did not fail to profit by this transient disposition36 of the multitude. For ten or twelve years they were at the head of affairs, and they were able to apply some, though not all, of their principles; for the hostile current was becoming from day to day too violent to be checked or stemmed. In 1801 the republicans got possession of the government: Thomas Jefferson was named president; and he increased the influence of their party by the weight of his celebrity37, the greatness of his talents, and the immense extent of his popularity.
The means by which the federalists had maintained their position were artificial, and their resources were temporary: it was by the virtues38 or the talents of their leaders that they had risen to power. When the republicans attained39 to that lofty station, their opponents were overwhelmed by utter defeat. An immense majority declared itself against the retiring party, and the federalists found themselves in so small a minority, that they at once despaired of their future success. From that moment the republican or democratic party has proceeded from conquest to conquest, until it has acquired absolute supremacy40 in the country. The federalists, perceiving that they were vanquished41 without resource, and isolated42 in the midst of the nation, fell into two divisions, of which one joined the victorious43 republicans, and the other abandoned its rallying point and its name. Many years have already elapsed since they ceased to exist as a party.
The accession of the federalists to power was, in my opinion, one of the most fortunate incidents which accompanied the formation of the great American union: they resisted the inevitable44 propensities of their age and of their country. But whether their theories were good or bad, they had the defect of being inapplicable, as a system, to the society which they professed45 to govern; and that which occurred under the auspices46 of Jefferson must therefore have taken place sooner or later. But their government gave the new republic time to acquire a certain stability, and afterward47 to support the rapid growth of the very doctrines which they had combated. A considerable number of their principles were in point of fact embodied48 in the political creed49 of their opponents; and the federal constitution, which subsists50 at the present day, is a lasting51 monument of their patriotism52 and their wisdom.
Great political parties are not, then, to be met with in the United States at the present time. Parties, indeed, may be found which threaten the future tranquillity53 of the union; but there are none which seem to contest the present form of government, or the present course of society. The parties by which the union is menaced do not rest upon abstract principles, but upon temporal interests. These interests, disseminated54 in the provinces of so vast an empire, may be said to constitute rival nations rather than parties. Thus, upon a recent occasion, the north contended for the system of commercial prohibition55, and the south took up arms in favor of free trade, simply because the north is a manufacturing, and the south an agricultural district; and that the restrictive system which was profitable to the one, was prejudicial to the other.
In the absence of great parties, the United States abound56 with lesser57 controversies58; and public opinion is divided into a thousand minute shades of difference upon questions of very little moment. The pains which are taken to create parties are inconceivable, and at the present day it is no easy task. In the United States there is no religious animosity, because all religion is respected, and no sect59 is predominant; there is no jealousy60 of rank, because the people is everything, and none can contest its authority; lastly, there is no public misery to serve as a means of agitation61, because the physical position of the country opens so wide a field to industry, that man is able to accomplish the most surprising undertakings62 with his own native resources. Nevertheless, ambitious men are interested in the creation of parties, since it is difficult to eject a person from authority upon the mere ground that his place is coveted63 by others. The skill of the actors in the political world lies, therefore, in the art of creating parties. A political aspirant64 in the United States begins by discriminating65 his own interest, and by calculating upon those interests which may be collected around, and amalgamated66 with it; he then contrives67 to discover some doctrine30 or some principle which may suit the purposes of this new association, and which he adopts in order to bring forward his party and to secure its popularity: just as the imprimatur of a king was in former days incorporated with the volume which it authorized68, but to which it nowise belonged. When these preliminaries are terminated, the new party is ushered69 into the political world.
All the domestic controversies of the Americans at first appear to a stranger to be so incomprehensible and so puerile70, that he is at a loss whether to pity a people which takes such arrant71 trifles in good earnest, or to envy that happiness which enables it to discuss them. But when he comes to study the secret propensities which govern the factions of America, he easily perceives that the greater part of them are more or less connected with one or the other of these two divisions which have always existed in free communities. The deeper we penetrate72 into the workings of these parties, the more do we perceive that the object of the one is to limit, and that of the other to extend, the popular authority. I do not assert that the ostensible73 end, or even that the secret aim, of American parties is to promote the rule of aristocracy or democracy in the country, but I affirm that aristocratic or democratic passions may easily be detected at the bottom of all parties, and that, although they escape a superficial observation, they are the main point and the very soul of every faction4 in the United States.
To quote a recent example: when the president attacked the bank, the country was excited and parties were formed; the well-informed classes rallied round the bank, the common people round the president. But it must not be imagined that the people had formed a rational opinion upon a question which offers so many difficulties to the most experienced statesmen. The bank is a great establishment which enjoys an independent existence, and the people, accustomed to make and unmake whatsoever74 it pleases, is startled to meet with this obstacle to its authority. In the midst of the perpetual fluctuation75 of society, the community is irritated by so permanent an institution, and is led to attack it, in order to see whether it can be shaken and controlled, like all the other institutions of the country.
Secret Opposition of wealthy Individuals to Democracy.—Their retirement77.—Their tastes for exclusive Pleasures and for Luxury at Home.—Their Simplicity78 Abroad.—Their affected Condescension79 toward the People.
It sometimes happens in a people among which various opinions prevail, that the balance of the several parties is lost, and one of them obtains an irresistible80 preponderance, overpowers all obstacles, harasses81 its opponents, and appropriates all the resources of society to its own purposes. The vanquished citizens despair of success, and they conceal16 their dissatisfaction in silence and in a general apathy82. The nation seems to be governed by a single principle, and the prevailing83 party assumes the credit of having restored peace and unanimity84 to the country. But this apparent unanimity is merely a cloak to alarming dissensions and perpetual opposition.
This is precisely85 what occurred in America; when the democratic party got the upper hand, it took exclusive possession of the conduct of affairs, and from that time the laws and customs of society have been adapted to its caprices. At the present day the more affluent86 classes of society are so entirely87 removed from the direction of political affairs in the United States, that wealth, far from conferring a right to the exercise of power, is rather an obstacle than a means of attaining88 to it. The wealthy members of the community abandon the lists, through unwillingness89 to contend, and frequently to contend in vain, against the poorest classes of their fellow-citizens. They concentrate all their enjoyments90 in the privacy of their homes, where they occupy a rank which cannot be assumed in public; and they constitute a private society in the state, which has its own tastes and its own pleasures. They submit to this state of things as an irremediable evil, but they are careful not to show that they are galled91 by its continuance; it is even not uncommon92 to hear them laud93 the delights of a republican government, and the advantages of democratic institutions when they are in public. Next to hating their enemies, men are most inclined to flatter them.
Mark, for instance, that opulent citizen, who is as anxious as a Jew of the middle ages to conceal his wealth. His dress is plain, his demeanor94 unassuming; but the interior of his dwelling95 glitters with luxury, and none but a few chosen guests whom he haughtily96 styles his equals, are allowed to penetrate into this sanctuary97. No European noble is more exclusive in his pleasures, or more jealous of the smallest advantages which his privileged station confers upon him. But the very same individual crosses the city to reach a dark counting-house in the centre of traffic, where every one may accost98 him who pleases. If he meets his cobbler upon the way, they stop and converse99; the two citizens discuss the affairs of the state in which they have an equal interest, and they shake hands before they part.
But beneath this artificial enthusiasm, and these obsequious100 attentions to the preponderating101 power, it is easy to perceive that the wealthy members of the community entertain a hearty102 distaste to the democratic institutions of their country. The populace is at once the object of their scorn and of their fears. If the mal-administration of the democracy ever brings about a revolutionary crisis, and if monarchical103 institutions ever become practicable in the United States, the truth of what I advance will become obvious.
The two chief weapons which parties use in order to ensure success, are the public press, and the formation of associations.
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1
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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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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factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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descries
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| v.被看到的，被发现的，被注意到的( descried的现在分词 ) | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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impels
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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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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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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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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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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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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50
subsists
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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52
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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53
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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54
disseminated
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| 散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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58
controversies
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| 争论 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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undertakings
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| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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aspirant
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| n.热望者；adj.渴望的 | |
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discriminating
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| a.有辨别能力的 | |
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amalgamated
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| v.（使）（金属）汞齐化( amalgamate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）合并；联合；结合 | |
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contrives
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的第三人称单数 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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puerile
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| adj.幼稚的，儿童的 | |
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arrant
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| adj.极端的；最大的 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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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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fluctuation
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| n.(物价的)波动，涨落；周期性变动；脉动 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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harasses
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的第三人称单数 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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affluent
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| adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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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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galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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laud
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| n.颂歌；v.赞美 | |
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demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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accost
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| v.向人搭话，打招呼 | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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preponderating
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| v.超过，胜过( preponderate的现在分词 ) | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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monarchical
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| adj. 国王的，帝王的，君主的，拥护君主制的 =monarchic | |
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