hich admit of the free
application of caprice to every object in the State, are here in full
operation. In conformity with this principle, America is, at the present
day, the country in the world where laws last the shortest time. Almost
all the American constitutions have been amended within the course of
thirty years: there is therefore not a single American State which has
not modified the principles of its legislation in that lapse of time.
As for the laws themselves, a single glance upon the archives of the
different States of the Union suffices to convince one that in America
the activity of the legislator never slackens. Not that the American
democracy is naturally less stable than any other, but that it is
allowed to follow its capricious propensities in the formation of the
laws. *b

[Footnote b: The legislative acts promulgated by the State of
Massachusetts alone, from the year 1780 to the present time, already
fill three stout volumes; and it must not be forgotten that the
collection to which I allude was published in 1823, when many old laws
which had fallen into disuse were omitted. The State of Massachusetts,
which is not more populous than a department of France, may be
considered as the most stable, the most consistent, and the most
sagacious in its undertakings of the whole Union.]

The omnipotence of the majority, and the rapid as well as absolute
manner in which its decisions are executed in the United States, has not
only the effect of rendering the law unstable, but it exercises the same
influence upon the execution of the law and the conduct of the public
administration. As the majority is the only power which it is important
to court, all its projects are taken up with the greatest ardor, but no
sooner is its attention distracted than all this ardor ceases; whilst in
the free States of Europe the administration is at once independent and
secure, so that the projects of the legislature are put into execution,
although its immediate attention may be directed to other objects.

In America certain ameliorations are undertaken with much more zeal and
activity than elsewhere; in Europe the same ends are promoted by much
less social effort, more continuously applied.

Some years ago several pious individuals undertook to ameliorate the
condition of the prisons. The public was excited by the statements
which they put forward, and the regeneration of criminals became a very
popular undertaking. New pri