158 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
a rolling-pin, and kneaded with one-fourth, or one-third, of wheaten 
flour. 
Young Men’s Department. 
OF THE NECESSITY OF UNDERSTANDING THE PRINCI¬ 
PLES OF OUR OWN GOVERNMENT. 
Let no American youth flatter himself, because he was born free, 
that he will, therefore, certainly live and die so ; much less, that his 
children will escape oppression. In past ages, and in all countries, the 
great body of the people have been, and even now in most countries yet 
are, little better than slaves. 
Subject to the absolute will of unfeeling masters, or oppressed by ty¬ 
rannical and unequal laws; condemned to suffer punishment, without 
a hearing, groaning under excessive taxes, compelled to waste their 
lives in wars, undertaken not for their benefit, but, to gratify the pas¬ 
sions of their rulers; awed into submission by standing armies, main¬ 
tained for the express purpose of keeping them in subjection, and 
supported by the sweat of their brows; wilfully kept in ignorance of 
their rights, and afraid even to utter a word of complaint against 
their oppressors—life itself, to them, can hardly be considered a 
blessing. 
But, what has been the condition of all other nations, and still is the 
condition of most, it would be folly to deny, may yet be that of the 
people of these United States. Why not? Human nature is every 
where essentially the same. The rulers of other nations are tyrants, not 
because they are naturally worse than many other men; but because 
they have power to oppress. Men are naturally fond of dominion, and 
the possession of power increases the love of it, blunts the moral sense, 
and hardens the heart. 
Let the American people once cease to guard their liberties, and 
they will soon find rulers willing enough to oppress them. Let them 
once bow their neck to the yoke and there will not be wanting a ty¬ 
rant to put it on. The framers of our constitutions well knew this. 
They foresaw that America, like all other countries, would produce 
ambitious and wicked men, who would aspire, and perhaps successful¬ 
ly, to places of power and trust; and therefore it was, that those wise 
and patriotic statesmen were so careful, as far as could be done by 
constitutional restraints, to put it out of the power of the public func¬ 
tionaries to deprive the people of their liberties. 
But it is a truth, never to be forgotten, that our written constitutions 
are chiefly valuable, as land marks to guide the people, and as stand¬ 
ards by which to measure, or rather as tests by which to try, the wis¬ 
dom and fidelity of their rulers. For, after all, of themselves, they are 
but parchment and ink, useful only while the principles they contain 
are adhered to, and liable to be evaded or trampled under foot when¬ 
ever the people cease to enforce them. 
To point out all the various modes in which our free institutions are 
in danger of being destroyed, and to describe the successive steps by 
which a calamity so great, should it ever occur, may be expected to be 
brought about, would far exceed the limits of this chapter. But it is 
enough to know, that our course is beset with dangers, and that their 
only effectual antidote is to be found in the intelligence and virtue of 
the people at large. 
Without intelligence, how can the people judge correctly of the con¬ 
duct of their public servants? How are they to know when they are 
faithfully served, or when their interests are betrayed ? Their rulers 
maybe capable, honest and zealous in the discharge of their duties, 
and yet be discarded as unworthy of confidence: they may be incompe¬ 
tent, or unfaithful, and yet be retained in their places—to the discou¬ 
ragement of public virtue, and to the great detriment of the people. 
Those who are in office, and the party leaders who support them, 
are naturally desirous of retaining the political power; and the ambi¬ 
tious men of the opposite party, are naturally eager to displace them, 
in order to get into power themselves. But, as it is only by the suffra¬ 
ges of the people, that either can hope to succeed, the object of both 
parties is, to obtain a majority of votes in their favor. With this view, 
the leaders of each party endeavor to convince the people that they are 
their only true friends, and that they alone, therefore, may be safely 
entrusted with power. 
For this purpose, they establish printing pressed, and circulate news¬ 
papers and handbills, among the people, and address them in public 
speeches. The means thus resorted to, would not only not be danger¬ 
ous, but would be highly useful, provided those who use them, would 
publish nothing but the truth, urge none but fair and honest arguments, 
and abstain from attempts, by unfair practices, to prevent the people 
from listening to both sides. 
But how widely different is their conduct! What is false is proclaim¬ 
ed as true ; and what is true is declared to be false. What is asserted 
on the one side, whether true or false, is denied on the other. Where 
the facts are too notorious to be safely controverted, cunningly devised 
and deceptive arguments are resorted to, to bewilder and mislead the 
public mind. The same measure is applauded, as in the highest de¬ 
gree useful and praiseworthy—and condemned, as mischievous and 
wicked. The same individual is held up as a wise and devoted patriot 
—and denounced as little better than a traitor. 
Attempts are made to shut out the truth by inducing the people, 
through prejudice, to shut their eyes and ears against it. Appeals are 
made to their passions, sometimes to their worst passions, which ought 
to be made only to their reason and judgment: and, what is worse than 
all, false and pernicious doctrines and principles are put forward, and 
industriously propagated, to advance the present personal interests of 
party leaders, regardless of the lasting and irreparable injury they are 
calculated to produce; and even at the hazard of corrupting public mo¬ 
rals and subverting our free institutions. 
This is no ideal picture. No one well acquainted with our political 
history, brief as it is, will deny that it affords but too many illustra¬ 
tions of the truth of all that is here said. The great instrument by 
which all this is done, and the only instrument by which it can be ef¬ 
fectually done, is the public press. And yet, the freedom of the 
press must be maintained. If it propagates error, it also dissemi¬ 
nates truth; and is, after all, the only means by which the people can 
be sufficiently enlightened to enable them to guard against still greater 
evils than those which arise from its abuse. 
Most fortunately too, the abuse of the press, great as the evil is, may 
be rendered comparatively harmless, and even in a great measure cor¬ 
rected, by the people themselves. Let the whole American youth be 
well instructed ; let them begin early, and continue, to read for infor¬ 
mation and to reflect upon what they read; let them take care tho¬ 
roughly to understand their civil rights and obligations, so as to be able 
to fulfil the one and enforce the other—and the abuse of the press need 
no longer be dreaded. 
When our youth shall be thus educated, and shall faithfully follow 
this counsel, there will be little danger of their being deluded and mis¬ 
led ; and then, and then only, will they be qualified, upon attaining the 
age of manhood, to discharge, in a safe and becoming manner, the high 
duties of American citizens. 
When this shall be the case, it will then be true in fact, as it is in 
theory, that the American people govern themselves. Then will there 
no longer be reason to fear the^influence of universal suffrage, and then 
will this boasted right be of some value to its possessor. Then will it 
be, what our political fathers designed it should be, the safeguard of 
liberty. 
But of what avail is this right to an unenlightened people? It is the 
right of freely choosing their own rulers ; the right which every citizen 
has of voting for whom he pleases. But what is this right worth to a 
man incapable of judging for himself? A man who does not under¬ 
stand the principles involved in the election at which he is to vote.- a 
man, in short, who has no better reason for preferring one candidate 
to another, than that he has been brought forward by the leaders ot a 
political party to which he himself professes to belong, but whose suc¬ 
cess, for aught he knows, will endanger the prosperity and even the li¬ 
berties of his country. 
What is the nature of that fiery zeal which our elections call forth? 
does it spring from patriotism and an enlightened love of liberty—and 
has it the public good for its object? With the more enlightened and 
honest part of our citizens, such doubtless is its origin and its aim. 
But with a vast majority, it is nothing but party spirit ;—a spirit ori¬ 
ginating in selfish ambition, avarice and envy, and of which patriotism, 
if it mingles in it at ail, forms the least active ingredient. This spirit 
is, therefore, the reverse of that which ought to animate the bosom of 
our countrymen when their rights and liberties»are at stake. Instead 
of impelling them to take care of their true interests, it too often ren¬ 
ders them blind to the public welfare, or heedless of its claims. 
That party spirit will ever be entirely banished from our country, is 
not to be expected. There will always be men who prefer the honors 
and emoluments of office to the welfare of the public. But there is no 
reason in the nature of things why it should pervade, as it has hitherto 
done, the great body of our citizens. They have no personal ends to 
answer, and they are, moreover, at heart, patriotic. And yet we often 
see them driven almost to phrenzy by its influence. Why is this so ? 
The answer is easy. 
Not being sufficiently enlightened to be able clearly to discern for 
themselves the exact nature of the questions at issue between the con¬ 
flicting parties, they are liable to be strongly excited by artful misre¬ 
presentations. Being little accustomed to reasoning coolly and impar¬ 
tially upon public affairs, their passions are, on this account, the more 
easily inflamed, and when aroused, exert a more unlimited sway. Thus 
it is, that many of our well meaning, but unenlightened citizens, are 
borne onward in their support of particular candidates for office, head¬ 
long, and heedless of everything but the success of the party in whose 
behalf their passions happen to be enlisted. Thus it is that they are 
continually in danger of becoming, in effect, their own worst enemies. 
The prevalence of high party spirit is therefore a great evil, not only 
because it disturbs the peace and harmony of society, and makes men 
