1. all government is professedly for the good of the people; but in point of fact, nearly every government that has ever been instituted has been in the interest of an individual, a family, or a class. american statesmen, in forming our government, admitted the superior rights of no man or class of men. it was carefully organized to exclude all claims or pretenses of that kind, with a single exception, at first, which afterward disappeared in the tempest of a civil war. the executive, the various members of the government, and the law makers depend on the people for their elevation. at first they possessed only the dignity, privileges, and rights of the people at large, and, their term of office expired, they return to the same level, honored, indeed, if they have been faithful servants; if not, carrying to their dishonored graves the reproaches and contempt of their fellow-citizens, but retaining, in neither case, a vestige of the power and exaltation over others that clothed them when in office, the contrary of which so often makes an unworthy man respectable in a different form of government.

2. that the masses of the people would be able to exercise a true sovereignty without abusing it was always doubted until the trial was made in this country. a very respectable class of statesmen in the early days of the republic, sympathized in[560] this doubt, and it even crept into the constitution in the form of electors who were to choose the president; intimating a distrust of the wisdom and sound discretion of the voters in the choice of the chief magistrate. the liberty allowed to the legislatures of the states to determine the manner in which electors should be chosen, while it recognized state authority on one side, on the other implied a hesitation to trust so important a matter directly to the people; and for a long time they were only indirectly consulted as to the choice of a president.

3. it was not, however, caused by a desire to keep power from them, but rather to avoid the unhappy effect of popular heat and rashness, so often observed in popular governments before attempted. this distrustful party first took control of the government, retained it during three presidential terms, and for many years afterwards formed an influential minority whose criticisms were of importance in establishing a traditional policy for the government. this party—the federalists, headed by washington and hamilton—sought to found a strong and stable government that should be able to fully protect the country from foreign interference and domestic discord. their control over the administration was somewhat abruptly closed by acts considered arbitrary, interfering with full freedom of speech and of the press—the “sedition laws” as they were called. jefferson and the republican party demanded the largest popular freedom, and had the conduct of the government for twenty-four years, impressing on its habits and policy the respect for the opinions of the people at large that has ever since characterized it. the people gradually gained control of presidential elections and practically set the electors aside, making and enforcing their own choice in general elections.

4. the exercise of popular sovereignty has gradually been enlarged, no qualification but that of age and nativity being now generally required, and the government may fairly be considered to represent the views of a majority of the people, and not only of the native, but also of the foreign born; since the[561] great mass of the latter are, by naturalization, absorbed into the mass of citizens. they come to make a permanent home with us, from a preference, as it is fair to assume, for republican institutions; and it is considered right that they should have a voice in the conduct of them. nor have the american people seen cause to regret their liberality in this respect. citizens of foreign birth have usually proved as thoughtful and wise as the rest of the population, and as worthy of citizenship. they bring to us wealth in their labor if not in their purses, and soon become thoroughly american in their habits and sympathies. the government and the people cordially welcome them, and find themselves the stronger and richer by so doing.

5. it must not be forgotten that the strongest fears of popular influence on the government, the stability of our institutions, and the maintenance of the good order necessary to the security of property and the general prosperity, were entertained at the first; that the prophecies of the foreseers of evil have been almost uniformly false during its whole course; and that the relation between the people and the general government has constantly grown closer, to the great advantage of both. the first war into which the country was plunged after the revolution—that of 1812—was comparatively a failure, in its earlier part, for want of this mutual confidence. later the people and the government have been more closely allied, and the government has been strong while the people have seen their cherished ends gained.

there has been continual advance in liberality of administration, in efficiency of organization, and in the completeness of social order. we have no reason to suppose that a tendency, continued through a hundred years and favored by so many circumstances that are common to all nations in our generation to a degree never before known, will be changed. rather we may confidently expect that with increased intelligence, experience, and prosperity that tendency will be strengthened.