Popular Institutions [pp. 523]

POPULAR INSTITUTIONS.
servatism must meet Black-republicanism at the polls, and
there manifest its actual strength. It is there that the matter
must be settled. If our Northern allies shall there prfve their
ability to rebuke and crush the lawless spirit of sectionalism,
Southern men will be enabled to rest in quiet, confident that
their rights -:ill be preserved and protected. If, however, fanaticism prove the stronger o-f the mighty combatants, it will
show us that, Northern friends being unable to protect us, we
must needs protect ourselves. It is best for all parties that this
matter should be put to the test, at once, that, if need be,
"being forewarned, we may be forearmed."
ART. IV.-POPULAR INSTITUTIONS.
IN America, and in Europe to some extent, mere elective
government has of late been confounded with representative
government; hence the gross mistake, that representative
government is a modern discovery or invention, unknown to
the ancients. We all mean by representative government, "a
government in which the interests of the governors and the
governed are so intimately connected, that in advancing the
one, we advance the other; and, vice versa, in detrimenting
the one, we detriment the other." Tried by this agreed standard, we shall find that the most simple and( ancient forms of
government were the most strictly representative, and that none
have so far departed firom this primitive and natural form (for
representative government is the natural form of government), as paid elective government; and that precisely as the
pay or salary increases, does the representative character
diminish and disappear. The father is the natural representative of his family, including wife, children, and other de pendants. His feelings and affections, as well as his interests,
are so blended and interwoven with theirs, that whatever
affects them, beneficially or injuriously, in like manner affects
him. He is the natural head or ruler of his family, and their
natural and faithful representative. This is patriarchal
government, the oldest, the best, and still the most common,
and seemingly the most despotic form of government. But
nature has interposed checks, balances and limitations to the
power of the father, husband and master, that are far more
efficient than paper guarantees, or constitutional restrictions.
Domestic affection and self-interest shield the patriarchal sub jects from oppression, and secure to them kind treatment,
protection, and support.'Tis Nature's great insurance office,
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