The proposition was received with enthusiasm by the whole company. They agreed unanimously that such an undertaking was highly patriotic, and that the time being was particularly propitious to an undertaking of that sort; that the condition of the country, and the progress of literature and science in the United States, “loudly call for such a periodical,” &c.; and, as a mark of their sincerity, pledged their entertainer in a bumper of hock, which seemed to augur favourably for their taste and judgment.
While they were thus engaged in expressing their sympathy with literature and the arts, I had an opportunity of observing their countenances, which partook of the usual shrewdness of New-Englanders, but were otherwise far from being remarkable or striking. Fortunately for my democratic sentiments, they were all representatives of the Whig or American Tory press; though some of the English editors of that denomination would not, perhaps, feel flattered by this extension of the fraternity.
What was most interesting to me was, the little case which prevailed amongst them; none seeming to know his true position. They approached each other with great caution, as if they dreaded each other’s malice. I am sure they did not venture a single expression which they would not have liked to see in print. In addition to this, they watched each other’s motions, and the greater or less degree of intimacy which existed between their entertainer and his invited colleagues; in short, they wanted nothing but tact and manners to pass for a tolerable body of diplomatists at a provincial court in Germany.
I could not help making some reflections on those poor mortals, who, like other players, “fretted their hour upon the stage;” though their parts were not many, and the play but too often not worth the candle. I believe I am not altogether wrong in asserting that the American daily press, though its influence on national politics is prodigious, is nevertheless in its composition, character, and moral force, scarcely to be compared to the mass of talent employed in this branch of literature in Europe.
There is scarcely a paper in any of the large cities of the United States which has a decided political character—advocating some great historical principle, and employing in its warfare other weapons than common-place dialectics, and constant appeals to the passions of its subscribers. The effect produced by the American papers is due to their number; there being not one of them which can boast of a subscription sufficiently large to make it a true representative of public opinion. Their power is owing to combination. No great central institution has as yet taken the lead; but they have a wonderful faculty in communicating each other’s ideas, either by direct quotations or by dressing up the same thought in a variety of manners. An American paper, in fact, is said to be edited with great talent when it contains in each number from half a column to a column of original matter: the rest consists of extracts and advertisements. The latter constitute the pecuniary resources of an editor; the subscriptions being so low that, unless a “fair advertising patronage” can be obtained, little profit or absolute loss must necessarily attend the publication.
From this single circumstance the leading character of American newspapers may at once be inferred. The commercial part of the community advertise the most,—their interests, therefore, are sure to be advocated; while those principles which refer to the higher branches of statesmanship or political economy are rarely made the subject of newspaper controversy, except perhaps in the Southern States. The Southerners are the only people in the Union who study politics as a science, having both the education and leisure for that purpose. The Southern papers, therefore, are, on an average, much better edited than those of the North; though from their higher standard, and the peculiar composition of Southern society, they have comparatively a small number of readers.
The practical men at the North call the Southerners, and especially the Virginians, “Meta-physical politicians,” in contradistinction to those whose immediate object is the increase of trade and traffic. The Northern papers advocate each only a particular part of a political system: one, a bank of fifty millions; another, one of forty millions; one, a bank in New York; another, one in Philadelphia, &c. just as it suits the convenience of their subscribers. It is not the press which leads the public,—it is the public which leads the press. What is likely to succeed—that principle which promises to become popular, which gratifies the peculiar penchant of the leading portion of the public, is sure to be maintained, if not with spirit, at least with great obstinacy; but a great truth, which is not yet universally received, which meets with a strong opposition from wealth and prejudice, which is calculated to benefit future generations and not the present one, often pleads in vain for a single enunciation in a daily print. The proverb, “Point d’argent, point de Suisses,” applies as much to the gentlemen of the press as to the hired soldiers of Helvetia; with this difference only, that, once engaged in fight, they do not always defend their masters with the same unalterable faith and courage.
The fact is, a truth which clashes with the interests of a certain portion of society is seldom introduced by men not entirely independent in their circumstances; and for this reason a powerful aristocracy, or an absolute monarchy, has often done more for the emancipation of a people than could have been effected by the variously-directed efforts of the wealthy middle classes. The history of all countries up to the present day furnishes ample proofs of this assertion, and the state of America itself forms no exception to the rule.
The Southern planters, who, not without cause, are reproached with aristocratic principles and sentiments, are nevertheless the stronghold of American liberty, without which the variety of commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural interests would soon produce a conflict of principles, which would ultimately endanger the Union. The very opposition to the Southern interests obliges the higher classes of the North to live in peace with the inferior orders.
The industrious labourer at the North has no better ally than the Southern planter, who, from his position, is more independent, more generous, and better able to protect him against the rich monopolist than the roturier, who is his competitor. From the South emanated all the democratic measures, together with the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people as it is now understood, in the United States. Southern statesmen advocated the rights of the poor; and broke down the monopoly of trade and manufactures, which threatened to enrich one class of citizens at the expense of all the rest.