the people endeavored to
apply its doctrines more especially to the Constitution of the Union,
whence it derived its name of Federal. The other party, which affected
to be more exclusively attached to the cause of liberty, took that of
Republican. America is a land of democracy, and the Federalists were
always in a minority; but they reckoned on their side almost all the
great men who had been called forth by the War of Independence, and
their moral influence was very considerable. Their cause was, moreover,
favored by circumstances. The ruin of the Confederation had impressed
the people with a dread of anarchy, and the Federalists did not fail to
profit by this transient disposition of the multitude. For ten or twelve
years they were at the head of affairs, and they were able to apply
some, though not all, of their principles; for the hostile current was
becoming from day to day too violent to be checked or stemmed. In 1801
the Republicans got possession of the Government; Thomas Jefferson was
named President; and he increased the influence of their party by the
weight of his celebrity, the greatness of his talents, and the immense
extent of his popularity.

The means by which the Federalists had maintained their position were
artificial, and their resources were temporary; it was by the virtues
or the talents of their leaders that they had risen to power. When
the Republicans attained to that lofty station, their opponents were
overwhelmed by utter defeat. An immense majority declared itself against
the retiring party, and the Federalists found themselves in so small a
minority that they at once despaired of their future success. From that
moment the Republican or Democratic party *a has proceeded from conquest
to conquest, until it has acquired absolute supremacy in the country.
The Federalists, perceiving that they were vanquished without resource,
and isolated in the midst of the nation, fell into two divisions, of
which one joined the victorious Republicans, and the other abandoned its
rallying-point and its name. Many years have already elapsed since they
ceased to exist as a party.

[Footnote a: [It is scarcely necessary to remark that in more recent
times the signification of these terms has changed. The Republicans are
the representatives of the old Federalists, and the Democrats of the old
Republicans.--Trans. Note (1861).]] The accession of the Federalists
to power was, in my opinion, one of the most fortun