munity,
by his own, and I may almost add by those of his posterity. Is it, then,
wonderful that he does not resist such repeated impulses? And indeed
aristocracies are often carried away by the spirit of their order
without being corrupted by it; and they unconsciously fashion society to
their own ends, and prepare it for their own descendants.

The English aristocracy is perhaps the most liberal which ever existed,
and no body of men has ever, uninterruptedly, furnished so many
honorable and enlightened individuals to the government of a country. It
cannot, however, escape observation that in the legislation of England
the good of the poor has been sacrificed to the advantage of the
rich, and the rights of the majority to the privileges of the few. The
consequence is, that England, at the present day, combines the extremes
of fortune in the bosom of her society, and her perils and calamities
are almost equal to her power and her renown. *a

[Footnote a: [The legislation of England for the forty years is
certainly not fairly open to this criticism, which was written before
the Reform Bill of 1832, and accordingly Great Britain has thus far
escaped and surmounted the perils and calamities to which she seemed to
be exposed.]]

In the United States, where the public officers have no interests to
promote connected with their caste, the general and constant influence
of the Government is beneficial, although the individuals who conduct it
are frequently unskilful and sometimes contemptible. There is indeed a
secret tendency in democratic institutions to render the exertions
of the citizens subservient to the prosperity of the community,
notwithstanding their private vices and mistakes; whilst in aristocratic
institutions there is a secret propensity which, notwithstanding the
talents and the virtues of those who conduct the government, leads them
to contribute to the evils which oppress their fellow-creatures. In
aristocratic governments public men may frequently do injuries which
they do not intend, and in democratic states they produce advantages
which they never thought of.

Public Spirit In The United States

Patriotism of instinct--Patriotism of reflection--Their different
characteristics--Nations ought to strive to acquire the second when the
first has disappeared--Efforts of the Americans to it--Interest of the
individual intimately connected with that of the country.

There is one sort of patriotic attachment