Nature and Culture

by Harvey Rice

Every nation has its representative men. America has hers. Cotton Mather was a Puritan and a theocrat; Benjamin Franklin, a patriot and a philosopher; George Washington, a great general and a model man; Thomas Jefferson, a true democrat and a wise statesman; Andrew Jackson, a hero at New Orleans, and a Jupiter in the Presidential chair; and Abraham Lincoln, a man of destiny, who crushed rebellion, and proclaimed freedom to four millions of slaves. These were the men of power in the hands of Divine Power; and yet they did not comprehend the sequence of their mission. Their achievements marked the age in which they lived, and will doubtless exercise a living influence, more or less controlling, throughout the coming ages of the civilized world.

Nations, as well as individuals, have their destiny in their own hands. It is the character of the individuals constituting the nation which gives to the nation its true character. America began her career by laying the foundations of her character, not in the sand, but on the rock of free schools, free churches, and a free public press. Without these institutions true freedom can neither be acquired, nor be preserved. They are the only legitimate nurseries of a healthful and vigorous public sentiment. Preserve these institutions, and the nation will continue to be free and prosperous and happy and powerful and glorious. And yet there may be corrupting influences growing out of the manner in which a popular government is administered, or growing out of the exercise and extent of the right of popular suffrage.

Indeed, it has already become a grave question how far it is safe to extend the right of suffrage. It cannot be denied that our American population is but an intermixture of different nationalities, thrown together by a common desire to become free men in a free land. Yet immigrants continue to come from the Old World, differing as widely in their political and religious education and predilections as in their language, customs, and social habits. It is this foreign element that makes our population what it is,—an assimilating, and yet an unassimilated mass. A five-years residence, under our present naturalization laws, entitles aliens to citizenship and the right of suffrage. When they have acquired citizenship, demagogues assume to be their best friends, only to deceive them and advance their own selfish aspirations. In this way the original peculiarities of the different nationalities are wrought into political subserviency, and employed as an element of power in securing the balance of power. It is in this way that the people are first corrupted, and then the government. It is in this way that we, as a nation, allow demagogues to educate the masses into a low and degrading estimate of what constitutes a popular government, and of what are its true legitimate objects.

The right of suffrage is clearly a political, not a natural, right. It should be exercised with wisdom, and only with reference to the "greatest good to the greatest number." The ignorant cannot exercise this right with safety, for the reason that they are not sufficiently intelligent. A certain degree of education should therefore be regarded as an indispensable prerequisite. A mere residence of five years in the country, without the ability to read and write the English language, should not be accepted as a presumptive qualification, though strengthened by an oath of allegiance.

There are some statesmen, as well as other persons, both in this country and in Europe, who are earnestly engaged in agitating the question of extending the right of suffrage to women, on the ground that women are citizens, and often own taxable property, and consequently have the same interest as men in securing and maintaining a just and proper administration of the government under which they live. While this is true, it is equally true that men are endowed by nature with more physical, if not more mental, strength than women, and have a higher regard for the diviner sex than they have for themselves, and consequently were created to be their protectors and guardians. In fact, the two sexes are but counterparts of each other. In Nature's arithmetic, the two count but one, and should be but one in heart and in life. But somehow or other, many of these counterparts get strangely mismatched, or are never matched at all. This is not a fault of Nature, but a defect in our social system. If it were considered as proper for women as for men to be the first to propose marriage, it would doubtless lead to the happiest results. But taking things as they are, the thought has occurred to me that it would be wise for the State to limit the right of suffrage to married men, for the reason that such men would naturally feel the deepest interest in sustaining a good government. Let the right to vote and to hold office depend on marriage, let the honors of State and of society be conferred on none but those who have honored themselves by assuming the duties and responsibilities of wedded life, and I doubt not that all marriageable bachelors would aspire to the honors of full citizenship, while marriageable women would soon find their proper places in their proper sphere, and the government become what it should be,—pure in its principles and just in its administration. America is in a transition state, and will in all probability continue to trust in the success of untried experiment, rather than rely on her past experience. But still there survives within the American breast a popular sentiment, which, like the magnetic needle, ever points to an unerring polar star. It is only amid clouds and storms that dangers arise, or become alarming. It is therefore important that the ship of State should be intrusted to none but skilful mariners. The pilot should appreciate the dignity of his position, and comprehend the extent of his responsibilities. Whether the "golden age" of America terminated with the outbreak of her great Civil Rebellion, or commenced at the date of its final suppression, remains, perhaps, an undecided question; yet there are thousands who believe that her golden age has passed, never to return. This may or may not be true.

It is hardly to be expected, however, that a happier age will ever arrive than that which existed prior to the Southern Rebellion. The people generally, both North and South, before an appeal to arms occurred, were characterized by a genial sincerity in the expression of their political views and in the recognition of their constitutional obligations, as well as in their ecclesiastical connections and social relations. They, in fact, felt that they were akin to each other, and regarded each other as a common brotherhood, having mutual interests in sustaining a common government,—a government which their fathers had framed, and bequeathed to them and to coming generations. In this genial relation, for nearly a century, the North and the South enjoyed uninterrupted peace and prosperity; and America took her position as one of the great and powerful nations of the earth.

It is to be hoped, however, that the result of the late Civil War will prove a "blessing in disguise," though laden with many unpleasant memories.

If we cannot obliterate the "dark spots" in the sunlight of our past history as a republic, we can at least cultivate friendly relations and a liberal spirit, such as will give to our future history a spotless character.

It now becomes a grave question whether the freedom of the emancipated slaves will prove a boon or a curse to them. As yet they cannot comprehend their relative position; nor can they foresee their ultimate though not distant destiny. As a race, they differ widely in their natural characteristics from the Saxon race among whom they have been diffused. They belong to Africa. The two races, being distinct in the conditions of their origin and physical structure, as well as in their temperament and tastes, can never harmonize as one people, either in their social or political relations, on the basis of a perfect equality. The thing is impossible, simply for the reason that the law of antagonism which exists between the two races is founded in Nature, and is therefore a divine law, which can neither be controlled nor essentially modified by legislation or education. In fact, a "war of races" has already become imminent, and must, when it does come, terminate in the expulsion, if not extinction, of the African race.

In the future of America there are mystic events which time only can disclose. "Onward" is the watchword of the living present. Every American believes there is "a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." The "almighty dollar" is his leading star. Hoards of gold and silver glitter in the distance. In acquiring wealth he acquires power. He knows that wealth is power; and hence the acquisition of wealth has become the ruling passion of the age. In other words, money supersedes merit, while moral honesty is held at a discount. Lamentable as the fact may be, it is evident that an unscrupulous desire to obtain wealth and political honors pervades all classes of American society, from the highest to the lowest.