hich,
whatever be the result of its efforts, will leave a name forever famous
in time--if you believe such to be the principal object of society, you
must avoid the government of democracy, which would be a very uncertain
guide to the end you have in view.

But if you hold it to be expedient to divert the moral and intellectual
activity of man to the production of comfort, and to the acquirement of
the necessaries of life; if a clear understanding be more profitable
to man than genius; if your object be not to stimulate the virtues of
heroism, but to create habits of peace; if you had rather witness vices
than crimes and are content to meet with fewer noble deeds, provided
offences be diminished in the same proportion; if, instead of living
in the midst of a brilliant state of society, you are contented to
have prosperity around you; if, in short, you are of opinion that the
principal object of a Government is not to confer the greatest possible
share of power and of glory upon the body of the nation, but to ensure
the greatest degree of enjoyment and the least degree of misery to each
of the individuals who compose it--if such be your desires, you can have
no surer means of satisfying them than by equalizing the conditions of
men, and establishing democratic institutions.

But if the time be passed at which such a choice was possible, and if
some superhuman power impel us towards one or the other of these two
governments without consulting our wishes, let us at least endeavor to
make the best of that which is allotted to us; and let us so inquire
into its good and its evil propensities as to be able to foster the
former and repress the latter to the utmost.

Chapter XV: Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences--Part I

Chapter Summary

Natural strength of the majority in democracies--Most of the American
Constitutions have increased this strength by artificial means--How this
has been done--Pledged delegates--Moral power of the majority--Opinion
as to its infallibility--Respect for its rights, how augmented in the
United States.

Unlimited Power Of The Majority In The United States, And Its
Consequences

The very essence of democratic government consists in the absolute
sovereignty of the majority; for there is nothing in democratic States
which is capable of resisting it. Most of the American Constitutions
have sought to increase this natural strength of the majority by
artificial means. *a