Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Volume 26 December, 1880. by Various None (smart ebook reader .txt) 📕

Substantially As We Have Described,  Lies Close To The Hearts Of The

People. The Right Of Election,  The Idea That Public Officers Should Be

Elective,  And The Expectation That There Will Be A Rotation Of Duties

And Honors,  Are Popular Principles Which Are Unmistakable.

Apart From The Consideration That Whatever Is Fundamental In Popular

Government,  Whatever Tends To The Preservation Of Individual Freedom And

Equality Of Rights,  Must Be A Safe Principle,  There Could Be Much Said

From The Most Practical Stand-Point In Favor Of Rotation In Office. All

Human Experience Proves The Usefulness Of Change. Rest Is The Next Thing

To Rust. In Physics Things Without Motion Are Usually Things Without

Life; And In Government It Is The Bureaus Least Disturbed By Change That

Are Most Stagnated And Most Circumlocutory. The Apparent Misfortune Of

Having Men Experienced In Public Affairs Make Way,  At Intervals,  For

Others Of Less Experience Is Itself Greatly Exaggerated. There Are Facts

So Important In compensation That The Assumed Evil Becomes One Of Very

Moderate Proportions. For It Will Be Seen Upon Careful Observation That

No Important Function Of The Government,  Not Even In The National

Service,  Calls For A Character Or Qualification--Sometimes,  But Rarely,

For Any Sort Of Special Or Technical Skill--Which Is Not Being

Continually Formed And Trained Either In The Movements Of Private Life

And Business Experience Or In The Political Schools Which Are Furnished

By The State,  The County And The Township. The Functions Of The

Government Are Substantially The Guardianship Of The Same Interests For

Which The State,  The County,  The Township And The Individual Exercise

Concern. Government Has Lost Its Mystery: Even Diplomacy Has Somewhat

Changed From Lying And Chicanery To Common-Sense Dealing. The Qualities

That Are Required In The Government--Industry,  Economy,  Integrity,

Knowledge Of Men And Affairs--Are Precisely Those Which Are Of Value To

Every Individual Citizen,  And Which Are Taught Day By Day Everywhere--To

The Lads In School And College And To The Men In Their Occupations Of

Life. Such Qualities A Community Fit To Govern Itself Must Abundantly

Possess. There Is Nothing Occult In The Science Of Government. The

Administration In behalf Of The People Of The Organization Which They

Have Ordered Is Nothing Foreign To Their Own Knowledge. They Have Ceased

To Consider Themselves Unfit For Self-Rule: They No Longer Think Of

Calling In From Other Worlds A Different Order Of Beings To Govern Them.

We May Accept Without Fear Principles Which Seem Startling,  But Which

Are Proved To Be Rooted In democratic Ground,  So Long As We Have Faith

In The Democratic System Itself. There Is No Road Open For The Doubter

And Questioner Of Popular Rights But That Which Leads Back To Abandoned

Ground. We May Proceed,  Then,  With An Attempt To Explain The Philosophy

Of The Rule Of Change. Shall It Not Be Stated Thus:

_That,  Due Regard Being Had To The Preservation Of Simplicity And

Economy--Forbidding Thus The Needless Increase Of Offices And

Expenses--It Is Then True That The Active Participation By The Largest

Number Of Persons In The Practical Administration Of Their Own

Government Is An Object Highly To Be Desired In every Democratic

Republic._

The Government Must Be The Highest School Of Affairs. Shall It Be

Declared That To Study There And To Have Its Diploma Is Not Desirable

For All? Is It Not Perfectly Evident That The More Who Can Learn To

Actually Discharge The Duties Belonging To Their Own Social

Organization,  The Better For Them And The Better For It?

All These Propositions Necessarily Imply The Existence Of An Intelligent

And Patriotic People,  At Least Of Such A Majority. So Always Does Every

Plan Of Popular Government. Whatever Of Disappointment Presents Itself

To The Author Of Any Scheme Of "Reform," Upon Finding That He Has

Constructed A System Which Is Ridden Down By The Political Activity Of

The People,  He Must Blame The Plan Upon Which Our Fabric Is Built. If He

Is Chagrined To Find That His _Imperium In Imperio_ Is Not Practicable,

And That Nothing Can Make Here A Power Stronger Than The Source Of

Power,  He Must Solace His Hurt Feelings With The Reflection That The

System Was Never Adapted To His Contrivance,  And That Our Fathers,  When

In The Beginning They Resolved To Establish A Government By The People,

Gave Consent Thereby To All The Apparent Risks And Inconveniences Of

Having The People Continually Minding Their Own Affairs.

With A Just Comprehension Of The Democratic Forces That Give Motion And

Life To The Governmental System Of The United States,  And Of The Manner

In Which They Affect The Public Service In all Its Departments,  The Wise

Advocate Of Reform Must Approach His Work. His Patriotism And

Thoughtfulness Are Both Necessary. To Proceed Against The Democratic Law

Is Not Practicable: To Establish A New System Which Is Inconsistent With

The Abundant Vitality And Conscious Strength Of That Already Established

Is A Futile Proposition Indeed.

The Price Of Safety.

Thirty-Three Years Ago--That Is,  Shortly Before Christmas,  1847--I Went

Over To Paris To Pass A Few Weeks With My Family. The Great Railway

Schemes Of The Two Previous Years In england Had Broken Down A Good Many

Men In Our Office--Draughtsmen,  Surveyors And So On. I Wonder If The

Present Public Recollects Those Days,  When The _Times_ Brought Out

Double Supplements To Accommodate The Advertisements Of Railroads,  When

King Hudson Was As Much A Potentate As Queen Victoria,  When Brunel And

Stephenson Were Autocrats,  And When Everybody Saw A Sudden Chance Of

Getting Rich By Shares Or Damages? Those Days Were The Beginning Of That

Period Of Prosperity Of Which The Recent "Hard Times" Were The Reaction.

_Then_ Twenty Guineas A Night For Office-Work Was Sometimes Paid To

Youngsters Not Yet Out Of Their Teens. In The Great Offices The Young

Men Worked All Day And The Alternate Nights To Get Plans Ready For

Parliament,  Sustained By Strong Coffee Always On The Tap,  Till Some Of

Them Went Mad With The Excitement And The Strain.

I Had Worked Hard Both In The Field And Office During The Closing Months

Of 1847,  But I Broke Down At Last,  And Was Sent To Recover My Health

Under The Care Of My Family. That Family Consisted Of My Father--A

Half-Pay English Officer--My Mother And Three Sisters,  Then Living _Au

Troisieme_ In The Rue Neuve De Berri,  Not Far From The Newly-Erected

Russian Church,  And The Windows Of The _Appartement_ Commanded A Side

View Down The Champs Elysees. I Only Needed Rest And Recreation,  Both Of

Which My Adoring Family Eagerly Provided Me. My Sisters Were Three

Lively,  Simple-Hearted,  Honest English Girls,  Who Had A Large

Acquaintance In Paris,  And Took Great Pride And Pleasure In Introducing

To It Their Only Brother. We Were Not Only Invited To Our Embassy And On

Visiting Terms With All The English Colony (That Colony Whose Annals At

That Period Are Written In _The Adventures Of Philip_,  And To Which

Thackeray'S Mother And Nearest Relatives,  Like Ourselves,  Belonged),  But

We Were,  In Virtue Of Some American Connections,  Admitted To The

American Embassy On The Footing Of Semi-Americans.

We Enjoyed Our American Friends Greatly. I Formed The Opinion Then,

Which I Retain Now,  That Cultivated Americans,  The Top-Skimming Of The

Social Cream,  Are Some Of The Most Charming People To Be Met With In

Cultivated Society. To All That Constitutes "Nice People" Everywhere

They Join A _Soupcon_ Of Wild Flavor Which Gives Them Individuality.

They Are To Society What Their Own Wild Turkeys And Canvasbacks Are To

The _Menu_.

One Of My Sisters,  Amy,  The Eldest,  Had Been Ill That Winter,  And Was

Not Equal To Joining In The Gayeties That The Others Enjoyed. Her

Principal Amusement Was Walking In The Gardens Of Monceaux,  A Private

Domain Of King Louis Philippe In The Batignolles,  A Quiet,  Humdrum Spot,

Where She Could Set Her Foot Upon Green Turf And Gravel. The Streets Of

Paris,  The Boulevards,  And The Champs Elysees Were Too Attractive To A

Pleasure-Seeker Like Myself To Allow Me To Content Myself With The Pale

Attractions Of Monceaux,  But I Went There With My Sister Once Or Twice,

Because French Etiquette Forbade Her Walking Even In These Quiet

Garden-Paths Alone.

One Day It Was Proposed By Her That We Should Go Again. I Could Not,  In

Common Humanity,  Refuse,  And So Consented. Poor Amy "Put On Her Things,"

As Our Girls Called It,  And We Descended To The Porte-Cochere,  Intending

To Engage The First Passing Citadine. As We Stepped Into The Street,

However,  A Gay Carriage With High-Stepping Gray Horses,  A Chasseur With

Knife And Feathers,  And A Coachman In a Modest Livery On A Hammer-Cloth

Resplendent With Yellow Fringes And Embroideries,  Drew Up At Our Door: A

Pretty Hand Was Laid Upon The Portiere And A Voice Cried,  "Amy! Amy! I

Was Coming For You."

"My Brother--Miss Leare," Said Amy.

Miss Leare Bowed To Me Gracefully And Motioned To Her Chasseur To Open

The Carriage-Door. "Get In," She Said. "_I_ Have The Carriage For Two

Hours: What Shall We Do With It? Mamma Is At The Dentist'S.--Amy,  I

Thought You Would Enjoy A Drive,  And So I Came For You."

I Helped Amy In,  And Was Making My Bow When Miss Leare Stopped Me. "Come

Too," She Said Cordially: "Amy'S Brother Surely Need Not Be Taboo. Shall

We Drive To The Bois?"

"I Was Going To Monceaux," Said Amy. "Would It Be Quite The Thing For Us

To Drive Alone To The Bois?"

"Oh-H-H!" Said Miss Leare,  Prolonging Her Breath Upon The

Vocative.--"You See," She Added,  Turning To Me,  "I Am So Unprepared By

Previous Training That I Shall Never Become _Au Fait_ In French

Proprieties. Indeed,  I Hold Them In Great Reverence,  But They Seem To Be

For Ever Hedging Me In; Nor Can I Understand The Meaning Of Half Of

Them. In america I Was Guided By Plain Right And Wrong.--Why Shall We

Not Outrage Etiquette,  Amy,  By 'Going Alone,' As You Call It,  To

Monceaux? Is It That The Place Is So Stiff And Solemn And Out Of The Way

That We May Walk There Without A Chaperon? I Should Have Thought

Seclusion Made A Place More Dangerous,  Allowing That There Be Any Danger

At All.--In America,  Mr. Farquhar,  Your Escort Would Be Enough For Us,

And The Fact That Amy Is Your Sister Would Give A Sort Of Double

Security To Your Protection."

"Oh,  Dear Miss Leare--" Began Amy.

"Hermie,  Amy--Hermione,  Which