tion and the other a model of deformity-an example to be imitated, or an example to be avoided-does not matter. They are agreed that it is a representation'-a something 'in imitation of nature'—a standard by which Democratic institutions are to be measured.' Congratulating himself, then, as its author does in having adopted a name by which to designate the Government concerning which he has written that cannot fail to be satisfactory to all parties, he fears that from this point of agreement there will be a divergence between the opinions he expresses and those which are entertained by the Radicals of every political school, whether of monarchical or democratic tendencies. He has said too much, perhaps, to expect forgiveness from the one, and not enough to secure the approbation of the other. He trusts, however, that he may fall back for support and countenance upon that larger and more practical class which, like truth, is found to exist between two extremes. The author would have been wilfully blind not to discover the seat of the disease which has afflicted the late Confederation, and dishonest, if he wrote at all, not to expose it. To have suggested a remedy too mild to be efficacious, or so violent that it would have been peremptorily rejected by the patient, would have been alike unavailing in the achievement of any desirable end. In his treatment of the subject the author has addressed himself only to the facts. Where these condemn he has condemned; where these commend he has commended. If he has failed to clothe truth in the garb which will produce conviction, he trusts that abler pens will be employed in elucidating the great problem, and that eventually some practical good may be evoked, which may serve as a counterpoise to the admitted evils which are incident to republican government. It may be thought, perhaps, that this volume should have been published in America rather than in England, where real liberty is enjoyed by all, and where there is no single element of power strong enough even to menace its overthrow. Yet, for reasons which are obvious to those who are familiar with the condition of affairs in America, this would have been impossible. The author nevertheless hopes that the subject, if not attractive to the great mass of European readers, will not be without interest to a few; and that these, in estimating the merits of the volume as a whole, will give credit for the fidelity which has been observed in his statement of the facts of American history to which he has made allusion. LONDON: Oct. 30, 1863. CONTENTS. II. The Fact of the Rupture of the Union does not prove the Inefficiency of Republican Government-Com- parison of the Results of Democratic Institutions in the United States and other Portions of America -Mexico as She Is and as She May Be III. The Framers of the American Constitution were Opposed to the Election of the President by a Popular Vote-Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention in Reference to the best Means of choosing the Chief Executive of the Government. IV. Party Conventions-Their Origin―Their Agency in V. Component Parts of a Northern Presidential Conven- tion Puritans, Atheists, Socialists, Abolitionists, &c. 73 VIII. Fatal Influence exercised by Presidential Elections XIII. A Review of the Events connected with the For- mation of the Federal Union, and the Opinions of the Authors of the Constitution, in regard to Sectional and State Sovereignty Questions The First Government of the United States. Second Government of the United States Mr. Madison's View of the Federal Compact Tabular Statement of Presidential Elections: Popular Vote in Presidential Elections from Table of Elections by the Presidential Electoral XIV. A Survey of the Presidential Elections from Washington to Lincoln considered in reference to the Appliances employed by the Parties and Second Presidential Epoch-1825 to 1860: Election of John Quincy Adams-Inauguration of the New Era by the commencement of the Martin Van Buren, of New York, elected President The 'Log Cabin and Hard Cider Mania' in the Canvass between Martin Van Buren, of New Canvass between James K. Polk, of Tennessee, and Henry Clay, of Kentucky-Revival of the Bargain and Corruption Charge-Texas An- nexation Consummated-Year 1844 Contest for the Presidency between General Taylor (Whig), General Cass (Democrat), and ex- President Van Buren (Free Soil)-Year 1848 293 Canvass of 1852-Candidates, Mr. Pearce (Demo- Anti-Southern Mania-Sectionalism Triumphant -Lincoln elected President-Year 1860 XV. A Discussion of the Questions of Right and Wrong, |