THEORY OF GOVERNMENT CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO THE PRESENT CRISIS. BY Hardeman. PETER H. BURNETT. "I had rather be right than be President."-HENRY CLAY. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON & CO., 443 & 445 BROADWAY. 1861. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1661, by D. APPLETON & CO., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. PREFACE. "BUT it is a novelty in the history of society," says De Tocqueville, "to see a great people turn a calm and scrutinizing eye upon itself, when apprised by the Legislature that the wheels of Government had stopped; to see it carefully examine the extent of the evil, and patiently wait two whole years until a remedy was discovered, which it voluntarily adopted without having wrung a tear or a drop of blood from mankind.” These generous remarks were made by the learned and profound Frenchman, in reference to the noble forbearance exhibited by the American people in the peaceful formation of their Constitution. But we are now exhibiting to the world a spectacle of another kind: not, indeed, a novelty, but only one of those crises not very uncommon in the history of nations. We are in the midst of a mighty revolution; and are now passing through one of the ordinary, though painful stages in the progress of a people from youth to mature age. And it would seem that this bloody revolution must and will run its due course. Most happy would it have been for us, and for others, could we have avoided the terrible struggle; and have exhibited, a second time, the beautiful novelty of a grea people voluntarily agreeing as to their condition and wants, and calmly adopting a remedy for existing evils, "without having wrung a tear or a drop of blood from mankind." But regrets for the past are now wholly unavailing, and we must confront the stern facts as they are, and think and act in the "living present," but for the great future. We should, at as early a day as practicable, "turn a calm and scrutinizing eye" upon ourselves, "carefully examine the extent of the evils," ascertain the proper remedy, and willingly and promptly adopt it. Having bestowed some attention and thought upon this subject, the writer submits the following views to the public, in the hope that they may be, to some extent, useful in their ultimate results. Though plainly and boldly stated, they are given with a kind and generous intent; and are addressed to all who love their country, and seek to promote its true and permanent interests. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. VALUE OF THE UNION. ....... § 1. Devotion to the Union should be based on sound reasoning.. 2. The object of Government, and the right to institute it..... 3. The benefits of the Union in the past, a reasonable basis for esti- 4. Difficulty of designating the dividing line between the sections.... 5. Frequent wars would be the consequence of permanent dissolution. 10 6. These wars would be carried on by regular soldiers.... 41 |