THE

YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.

VOL. XII.

FEBRUARY, 1847.

No. 4.

TENDENCY TO DISSOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT.

Is government unceasingly ripening to decay? Can permanency never be attained in our political fabrics? To us the Future is a sealed book, and the only key that we have for its interpretation is the Past, which contains the causes of all things known to us, and is prophetic of all effects corresponding to them, to be disclosed in the unsealed volume of Time, which we are yet to read. Governments, without exception, have passed away like the generations which gave them birth: what, then, are we to expect of those which are now in existence? Must the sovereignty of England, upon whose possessions the sun never sets, and

"Whose flag has braved a thousand years,

The battle and the breeze,"

at length experience a downfall? Will another bloody revolution put an end to the royal regime in "la belle France?" Will the model republic of the world waste its energies in the struggles which await it, and perish like one of us? To our view, one fate awaits them all : a revolution depending on a regular and—in consequence of our social organization a necessary decay, must take place in each and all; which will either totally blot them from existence, or transform them into new governments.

Permanency is the "philosopher's stone" of political economy, as perpetual motion is that of mechanics; or as the original stone, which transmutes all metals into gold, was of chemistry; and it has been ardently sought for by political philosophers, who have as vainly dreamed their lives out in its pursuit, as the alchymists of old, or as do the inventive mechanicians of the present. When the fathers of our own Constitution assembled to deliberate upon its formation, this was the centre in which their thoughts concentrated. The opinions of the most distinguished writers upon government, ancient and modern, and the experience of all the world, were before them. After long and elaborate study, they selected, from the vast array of principles and postulates, maxims and axioms, truths and speculations, such only as

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would conduce to this great end; and their wisdom determined them to lay it in equity rather than force. In the language of one of them, they adopted the method of a wise architect in erecting a new palace for the residence of his sovereign. They determined to consult Vitruvius, Palladio, and all other writers of reputation in the art; to examine the most celebrated buildings, whether they remain entire or in ruins; compare these with the principles of writers, and inquire how far the theories and models were founded in nature, or created by fancy; and when this should be done, as far as their circumstances would allow, to adopt the advantages, and reject the inconveniences of all." After such extraordinary caution and foresight, we would fain flatter ourselves that our republic is impregnable to destruction; and it would be eternal if it consisted of an independent organization of principles; but we are even constrained to say with Tacitus of a republic, "haud diuturna esse potest."

Most political writers are disposed to believe, that the process of decay in governments is not conformable to any degree of order; nor that it is regulated by certain and unvarying causes. They attribute the overthrow of empire, in all cases, to the operation of arbitrary circumstances; and upon the possibility of removing or avoiding these, is grounded the hope of duration. The body politic, say these philosophers, is not capable, like the human body, of a "rise, maturity, decline, and extinction," because time cannot be supposed to have any influence in hastening the dissolution of the immaterial organs, or principles, of which it is made up. We grant that the abstract principles involved in political institutions cannot be destroyed, or even changed, by the lapse of years that they are immutable; but to consider them as comprehending within themselves the idea of an absolute and independent organization, borders too closely upon a Utopian vision. Such governments may exist in the imagination, but are nowhere to be found in practice. Walls of adamant, though a form of matter least susceptible of any to the touch of time, if built upon a foundation of sand, would stand the test of but few years. So with these principles; they have their foundation embedded in the nature and character of the peoplea basis infirm and insecure, since it is always subject to the influence of an insidious corruption, coëxistent with the present system of society; and from this cause alone it must gradually and necessarily give way and let the superstructure reared upon it fall to the ground.

Constitutions are merely compacts or written agreements between the rulers and the ruled; and laws are nothing more than defined rules for the regulation of conduct in the political communications and dealings which each member of a community may have with his fellowcitizens, that the rights of all may be kept distinct, and be strictly observed. These conventional obligations may be respected, or even venerated, whilst the comparative equalization of classes renders it practicable for all to live with any degree of happiness under the same laws; but when, from any causes whatsoever, classes become alienated from each other, a cherished jealousy is the consequence, which invites into action that powerful motive of our nature, self-interest. Under the