dvantages may be, this is not one of them.

Causes Which May Partly Correct These Tendencies Of The Democracy
Contrary effects produced on peoples as well as on individuals by great
dangers--Why so many distinguished men stood at the head of affairs
in America fifty years ago--Influence which the intelligence and
the manners of the people exercise upon its choice--Example of New
England--States of the Southwest--Influence of certain laws upon the
choice of the people--Election by an elected body--Its effects upon the
composition of the Senate.

When a State is threatened by serious dangers, the people frequently
succeeds in selecting the citizens who are the most able to save it.
It has been observed that man rarely retains his customary level in
presence of very critical circumstances; he rises above or he sinks
below his usual condition, and the same thing occurs in nations at
large. Extreme perils sometimes quench the energy of a people instead of
stimulating it; they excite without directing its passions, and instead
of clearing they confuse its powers of perception. The Jews deluged the
smoking ruins of their temple with the carnage of the remnant of their
host. But it is more common, both in the case of nations and in that
of individuals, to find extraordinary virtues arising from the very
imminence of the danger. Great characters are then thrown into relief,
as edifices which are concealed by the gloom of night are illuminated by
the glare of a conflagration. At those dangerous times genius no longer
abstains from presenting itself in the arena; and the people, alarmed
by the perils of its situation, buries its envious passions in a short
oblivion. Great names may then be drawn from the balloting-box.

I have already observed that the American statesmen of the present day
are very inferior to those who stood at the head of affairs fifty years
ago. This is as much a consequence of the circumstances as of the
laws of the country. When America was struggling in the high cause of
independence to throw off the yoke of another country, and when it
was about to usher a new nation into the world, the spirits of its
inhabitants were roused to the height which their great efforts
required. In this general excitement the most distinguished men were
ready to forestall the wants of the community, and the people clung
to them for support, and placed them at its head. But events of this
magnitude are rare, and it is from an