sing extended for the purpose of raising revenues, which, of course, is an abusive infringement of free social business, as commerce, trading, industry, etc.

The real humane development and culture depends upon the liberty of industry. In the proportion governments interfere with it, man is enslaved. The lowest degree is absolute serfdom. Then come the Chinese and Japanese systems, which admit a certain degree of internal industrial freedom, but are exclusive in regard to foreigners. The system of classifying the trades, and arming them with monopolistic privileges, still prevalent in many states on the European continent, follows next. Then we meet the different custom systems, which are more or less exclusive, or -Chinese. Even the patent rights must be mentioned here. There has not existed a single government which, in one way or another, even only by raising taxes, has not interfered with the liberty of industry, so that one may come to the conclusion that a full enjoyment of this freedom from all shackles is impracticable, if not impossible. Still, the truth can not be denied that a full expansion of humanity depends upon the full enjoyment of this noble gift of nature.

"The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place," so says Publius (A. Hamilton) in one of his excellent articles on the federal constitution in the Federalist. This is perfectly right, because by such a connection these interests are protected. Hence the necessity not to unsettle or disturb these constitutional rights, and my ardent pleading for good stable town and county organizations by the constitution, in order to render the naturally settling down force of business se

cure.

The same writer and statesman remarks, that a great difficulty of free governments is to create an effective control of them. Now, is not the only practical and effective self-control of a government in a constitution which expressly prohibits to meddle, by special laws, with the constitutional business of towns and counties, and with the free non-political business of society at large, school-books and the bible included?

Men of culture are attached to their business interests like slaves to their masters. It is also well known that the regular occupation of man leaves an indelible impression upon his charac

ter and manners. The same is true of the political business. Consolidate the public affairs of the small state-districts, called Cantons in Switzerland, and soon the government of the whole will become monarchical, and the same men who were with soul and body republicans, will become with body and soul monarchical subjects, because their interest, their business, is managed in a monarchical manner.

All the power of the English government is a product of business centralization, eulogized by D'Israeli in his late speech against the Palmerston cabal. Still the "military disasters," the complaints of the clumsy management of the army and the civil service, filling the blue books for years, are the result of this business accumulation in London. Of course, Napoleon III. praised centralization highly in his speech at the occasion of the celebration of the enlargement of the Luxembourg palace.

Let us apply this political business-theory to an important event at home, the abolition of the so-called Missouri compromise. Why is this, I ask, a most judicious statesmanlike political act? Answer: because it removes from Congress the last vestige or precedent of a power to legislate on a local business, bound labor, which does not belong to its constitutional sphere, the direct consequence of which now is, the full liberty to divide overgrown states in the north, without exciting the fear of the southern states about their local domestic affairs, by altering the senatorial representation. You see that by a slight mistake about such a single plain local business-all labor is business-we may risk the stability of our Union, because our southern fellow-citizens will rather secede from the Union than give up the management of their own local interests; and by doing so they are pre-eminently right, and those who interfere with them exceedingly wrong.

It remains for me to answer a single question more, before I conclude this long epistle; that is, what government is the most stable? that which allows the greatest liberty of industry. A government which follows the opposite theory must surround itself by a great number of officials of all sorts, in which regard we have again to mention first the Chinese and Japanese governments as examples. Commodore Perry, in his report, complains often of swarms of officials and spies, commanded to exclude the people from the intercourse with the Americans. The vexatious

busybodiness of the mandarins is well known. Then follow Russia, France, Austria, Prussia, etc., with their public, secret, and detective police, gendarmes, custom-line guards, standing armies, etc., etc., contrivances which, in their nature, interfere with industry, are galling to the people, and undermining the stability of governments. People, with a delicate frame of mind, revolt at the idea that a government may fetter the press, confiscate books and papers, or tamper with the spelling and readingbooks in schools. The first may cost Napoleon III. his crown, the second will deprive a republican government of its dignity, the crown which adorns it and gives it authority. Also, the business of teaching should enjoy full liberty. Upon the use of school-books the teacher has to decide, and not statesmen.

Suppose there should be a class of the citizens, from theological reasons, opposed to the use of the bible in the public schools, and a political party interested in the vote of this class, and the legislature attempted to enforce by law the use of the bible for instruction, then this party would oppose the law, in order to profit by that vote. If now the use of the bible depends upon the law or state interference, and not upon the free agency of teachers and parents, the bible will likely remain excluded from ALL public schools as long as the government is allowed to interfere with such private affairs; while the use of this book would be almost general if it depended, as it ought, wholly upon teachers and parents to decide whether it shall be used or not. But let me conclude this rambling over the immense field of occupation, industry, and business.

LETTER XLI.

Election Impulses. Social Movements organized in the United States, Health producing. - Social Movements in Europe destructive. - Famine, Gold, Conquest, Religion, Liberty. — Main Social-Impulses. — LibertyImpulse of the Republican Party. - American Party acting unimpulsive. — Dear Union-Impulse of the Democratic Party.

I ADD an article, for the benefit of party politicians, written on the result of the presidential election in 1856, which may have a bearing upon the election in 1860.

Masses and large assemblages move by impulses, which may be right or wrong, genuine or sham, according to circumstances. Masses do not reason like individuals. Reason is cold, void of caloric, the impulses of society are warm, electric, and powerful, like those which lift the ocean waves from their repose, while those of individuals are like the forces which make a rivulet meandering. Still individuals and society, like rivulets and oceans, require for their health MOTION. In free society like ours the motion of the masses is foreseen, organized, legalized, the individual is master of himself; in subject society, however, like that in Europe, its motion is left to nature, social tempests, called wars, emeutes, revolutions, and the individual is bemastered by restrictions, caste distinctions, and a great many other political and clerical contrivances well known. Social movements in Europe are mostly destructive, while with us they are a necessary part of our social regimen and well-being. As a general thing famine, gold, conquest, religion, and liberty are the main impulses of grand social

movements.

The presidential election which just moved the social sea of twenty-six millions can not be understood without an examination of the various impulses at work. The movement of the republicans was propelled by the impulse of liberty (and gold or offices besides), that of the democrats by the impulse of union (with the same indispensable golden appendage); the effort of the Americans did not amount to an impulse. Hunger or famine, conquest or religion, the great social impulses in Europe, Asia, etc., had, of

course, nothing to do with the fourth of November, this movement being appointed by law. It is obvious that in free society only that impulse should succeed at national elections which is just required by circumstances. Now, I ask, was the liberty-impulse of the republicans, indeed, a necessity, or merely manufactured for the political trade? My opinion is that it was spurious and mere sham, because in our country the impulse of liberty has been long ago, at the time of the revolution and by the successful establishing of the federal constitution, entirely used up; both events have rendered us sufficiently free, independent, and self-governing. When the republicans cried out on the stump, in the tabernacle, in Wall street, we strike for liberty," everybody must have been struck by the folly and absurdity of the thing in our absolutely free society.

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But there are slaves in the southern states! Well there are. Can they, in our free and well-organized society, be freed by a social movement, or anybody else but their masters? Sane men in Massachusetts have as little to do with this business in Georgia or Kansas, as with the liberation of the subjects in Great Britain and of the serfs in Russia. This sham liberty impulse has been justly rebuked in the city of New York. It failed there in spite of the most tremendous exertion of a host of able editors, powerful speakers, and inspired preachers to the contrary notwithstanding. People here appreciated this charlatan liberty-cry well. But not so in the distance; there people believe in the Metropolitan and Boston liberty stuff, as they are apt to patronize other charlatans from these latitudes. Hence the total failure of the republicans here, and their comparative success in the provinces. Nobody is easier carried away by the liberty impulse than the Europeans, from very natural reasons. The most influential German newspapers joined the republicans.

The Americans have been entirely unsuccessful because they acted unimpulsive from the beginning. A SECRET society for the control of the PUBLIC affairs is not impulsive, but to a great many indeed repulsive, and so it is the disapproving of the abolition of the Missouri line; so it is the prolongation of the Congressional naturalization term of five years, actually disregarded by all state legislatures. Even the sentiment that we shall be ruled by our own laws, can never act as a social impulse, because it is a plain