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What people are saying - Write a reviewReview: The American DemocratUser Review - Jt - GoodreadsHigh time to read it. So far the best part of the book is the introduction by HL Mencken, written in 1938 (on the 100th anniversary of the book's publication). From the introduction to the first ... Read full review Related books
Common terms and phrasesabuses acts admit agents American American slavery appointed aristo aristocracy authority bill of attainder body character circumstances citizen civilization compact condition congress consequence constitution corrupting cracy dangerous defer demagogue democracy democrat deportment despotism distinctions dition duties effect England equality evil executive exist fact favor feeling form of government gentleman Habeas Corpus habits human ical inequality influence institutions interests justice king king of England legislation less liberty majority manner mass matters means ment merated monarchy moral motives nation natural justice nature necessity numbers oppression particular party political rights possess practice prejudices president prince principles publick opinion qualities reason refinement render representative representative democracy republick respect rights of property rule sense sentiment servant signification slave slavery social station society sophisms sovereign suffrage tastes term things tion true truth United universal suffrage usages usually vulgar word wrong Popular passagesPage 88 - For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife ; and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Page 70 - The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge and principles of the majority form the tribunal of appeal. This circumstance, while it certainly serves to elevate the average qualities of a nation, renders the introduction of a high standard difficult. Thus do we find in literature, the arts, architecture and in all acquired knowledge, a tendency in America to gravitate towards the common center in this, as in other things; lending a value and estimation... Page 95 - They are, in truth, aristocrats in principle, though assuming a contrary pretension ; the ground work of all their feelings and arguments being self. Such is not the intention of liberty, whose aim is to leave every man to be the master of his own acts ; denying hereditary honors, it is true, as unjust and unnecessary, but not denying the inevitable consequences of civilization. " The law of God is the only rule of conduct, in this, as in other matters. Each man should do as he would be done by.... Page 186 - The ability to discriminate between that which is true and that which is false, is one of the last attainments of the human mind. It is the result, commonly, of a long and extensive intercourse with mankind. But one may pass an entire life, in a half-settled and half-civilized portion of the world, and not gain as much acquaintance with general things, as is obtained by boys who dwell in regions more populous. The average proportion between numbers and surface in America, is about twelve to the square... Page 129 - ... country, than on a compact population, covering a small surface. Discreet and observing men have questioned, whether, after excluding the notices of deaths and marriages, one half of the circumstances that are related in the newspapers of America, as facts, are true in their essential features; and, in cases connected with party politics, it may be questioned if even so large a proportion can be set down as accurate. This is a terrible picture to contemplate, for when the number of prints is... Page 122 - They who aid their masters in the toil may be deemed ' helps,' but they who perform all the labor do not assist, or help to do the thing, but they do it themselves. A man does not usually hire his cook to help him cook his dinner, but to cook it herself. Nothing is therefore gained, while something is lost in simplicity and clearness by the substitution of new and imperfect terms, for the long established words of the language. In all cases in which the people of America... Page 174 - ... in any of the other modifications of human institutions. In one sense, slavery may actually benefit a man, there being little doubt that the African is, in nearly all respects, better off in servitude in this country, than when living in a state of barbarism at home. Page 96 - The whole embarrasment on this point exists in the difficulty of making men comprehend qualities they do not themselves possess. We can all perceive the difference between ourselves and our inferiors, but when it comes to a question of the difference between us and our superiors, we fail to appreciate merits of which we have no proper conceptions. In face of this obvious difficulty, there is the safe and just governing rule, already mentioned, or that of permitting every one to be the undisturbed... Page 94 - ... things that are false, and the things which make him what he is. An eminent writer of our own time, has said in substance, that a nation is happy, in which the people, possessing the power to select their rulers, select the noble. This was the opinion of a European, who had been accustomed to see the liberal qualities in the exclusive possession of a caste, and who was not accustomed to see the people sufficiently advanced to mingle in affairs of state. Power cannot be extended to a caste, without... Page 97 - Their principles vary ; and, to a slight degree, their deportment accordingly. The democrat, recognizing the right of all to participate in power, will be more liberal in his general sentiments, a quality of superiority in itself; but, in conceding this much to his fellow man, he will proudly maintain his own independence of vulgar domination, as indispensable to his personal habits. The same principles and manliness that would induce him to depose a royal despot, would induce him to resist a vulgar... References from web pagesJSTOR: The American Democrat Topic: Culture of the Common Man, The Triumph of Nationalism - The ... Poe and Cooper -- A Comparison, Between an American Democrat and a ... Literary Encyclopedia: The American Democrat kennedy The American Novel . Literary Timeline . Authors . James Fenimore ... James Fenimore Cooper - Biography and Works James Fenimore Cooper The Biblical Educator The Constitutional Democrat - Mises Economics Blog Bibliographic information
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