vote, was his.
Its sophistry is as palpable to Jefferson as to every thinking mind.
Government is the most abstruse of the sciences, and should, for the
security of all, be controlled by the intelligence of the country.
During the world's existence, all the intelligence it has ever
afforded, has not been competent to the formation of a government
approximating perfection.

"The object of government is the protection of life, liberty, and
property. The tenure of property is established and sustained by law;
it is the basis of government; it is the support of government; in
proportion to its extent and security, it is the strength and power of
government, and those who possess it should have the control of
government. In a republic, there can be no better standard of
intelligence than the possession of property, and to give the greatest
security to the government, none should, in a republic, be intrusted
with the ballot, but the native, and the property-holder, or the native
property-holder. The complications of our system are scarcely
understood by our own people, and to suppose that ignorant men (for
such constitute the bulk of our emigrant population) shall become so
intimate with it, and so much attached to it, as to constitute them, in
a few years, persons to be intrusted with its control, is supposing
human intelligence to be of much higher grasp than I have ever found
it. Most of these emigrants come here with preconceived prejudices
toward the institutions of their native lands. This is natural. Most of
them speak a foreign language. This has to be overcome, before they can
even commence to learn the nature and operation of our system, which is
so radically dissimilar to any and all others. These men, as the
ignorant of our own people, naturally lean on some one who shall direct
them, and they will blindly do his bidding. This is an invitation to
the demagogue; these are his materials, and he will aggregate and
control them. Such men are always poor, and envy makes them the enemies
of the rich. This creates an antagonism, which we see existing in every
country.

"The poor are dependent for employment upon the rich; the rich are
dependent upon the poor for labor. This mutual dependence, it would be
supposed, would tend to create mutual regard; but experience teaches
the reverse. The poor have nothing to sell but their labor, and there
are none to buy but the rich. Each, naturally, struggles to make the
best barg