in the United States. Then a sublime spectacle was seen, when the Roman citizens advanced to the polls, and proclaimed, "I vote for Cato to be Consul;" the Athenian, "I vote for Aristides to be Archon;" the Theban, “I vote for Pelopidas to be Bootarch;" the Lacedemonian, "I vote for Leonidas to be first of the Ephori." But no one of the people, as such, of the United States, has ever been able to say, "I vote for George Washington to be President." Heretofore the people have voted for a list of electors, selected by partisans who, in most cases, have been ambitious politicians. If the Union be for ever destroyed, the world must attribute the fall of the nation to the machinations of political bacchanalian demagogues, who, for the consummation of their own sinister aims, have revelled in the low dens of pollution, for the purpose of securing the votes of sots and practitioners of corruption, whose numerical influence has driven from the polls, in disgust, the pure patriots. The rush to the polls, at some elections, is very great; and, in order to get a vote early in the day, it is necessary to form in a line, which we have seen extending from the ballot-box, 200 yards in the street. The negro, the scavenger, the drunkard, the merchant, the lawyer, the governor, the senator, the judge, and the people of all pursuits are there, standing in a line-slowly marching to give a vote for a list of electors, whose names, perhaps, not one of all the voters could repeat without the aid of the printed list. Many of the better class of people seldom, if ever, come to vote, influenced by a feeling of disgust for the general degradation at the present time controlling the ballot

throughout the states; but the republican system knows no respecter of persons; and, as we have herein before stated, the man that is entitled to a vote, and fails, by omission, to exercise it, is unworthy of having the right of suffrage. The freeman thus guilty of neglecting to perform his political rights is not a true patriot: he boasts of the nation's glory, and its flag; and yet he is too proud and haughty to cast his vote side by side with those who, according to our republican theory, are by nature created equal. It is now some fourteen years since we have cast a ballot; and we admit it-not with credit, but with shame!

In the large cities, the elective system has been too much controlled by corrupt influences; but, in the rural districts, the yeomanry have appreciated the sacredness of their rights, and never fail to exercise the elective franchise with a dignity and solemnity commensurate with a freeman's privilege and responsibility.

CHAPTER XII.

Rebellions of the United States; Shay's, in 1786; Whisky, in 1791; Dorr's, in 1842.

SHAY'S REBELLION IN 1786.

AFTER the revolutionary war, the finances of the United States as a government, of each state, and of the people, were in a shattered condition. There was distress everywhere. The states passed the necessary tax and excise

laws, but they could not be collected. There was discontent in nearly every state, and particularly in New England. In 1786, the legislature of Massachusetts voted customs and excise duties for the payment of the interest on the state debt. Taxes had to be levied to meet the principal of the debt and the quotas required by Congress. The people had been burdened with taxes; and there was a disposition to resist further collections. The farmers were then a year in arrears, and were continually harassed by the courts. They felt that their liberties had been dearly purchased, and that the oppression of the tax collector was as obnoxious under the new government as it had been under King George III. The legislature passed laws to lessen the burden of costs in the collection of debts, and for other purposes calculated to restore confidence in the government. Mobs assembled, however, and interrupted the execution of the laws. At this time

Daniel Shay, late an officer in the American revolutionary army, assumed the command of the insurrectionists, and prevented the meeting of the legislature at Worcester. Shay's forces numbered some 2,000, and were divided into three divisions. He marched them to Springfield, and attempted to take the arsenal; but it was defended by a small body of western militia, under the command of General Shepherd. Shay's army approached, and demanded a surrender. Shepherd refused, and fired his cannon over the heads of the insurgents; but they continued to advance, and were not to be intimidated by such explosions of powder. Shepherd then ordered the cannons to be fired upon the rebels, killing three men, and wounding another. Finding that the government forces were determined to fight, Shay's men broke, and fled in confusion, crying murder. Many of them were eventually arrested, tried, and convicted. Some were sentenced to death, and others were disfranchised for a term of three years. None were executed. The popular opinion was in favour of the insurgents; in consequence of which the government was compelled to be lenient; and it could only inflict the mildest penalties. The effect of this outbreak was beneficial throughout the United States. It proved the necessity of a stronger national government than the one then existing under the articles of confederation.

THE WHISKY REBELLION OF 1791.

In 1791 the Congress of the United States passed a revenue law, which, in its enforcement, produced a formidable rebellion in the western counties of Pennsylvania.

While the question was pending in Congress, the legislatures of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, passed resolutions against the proposed excise tax. The subject occupied the attention of Congress for several days; and in January, 1791, the bill passed and became a law. This act imposed a duty on all imported spirits, according to strength-a duty of from twenty to forty cents per gallon. On domestic spirits was levied a tax of from nine to twenty-five cents per gallon, if distilled from grain; and a tax of from eleven to thirty cents, when manufactured from molasses, or any imported product. The enactment of this law produced a rebellion in the western part of Pennsylvania, which cost the government, in its suppression, over one million of dollars; and besides, there was a loss of many lives. The people living within the insurrectionary district had settled there when the country was a wild forest; and they had successfully, though at a great loss, defended themselves against the savage tribes. Distilling was not only considered respectable, but a necessity, and a blessing to the people. The insurgents defended their course upon the grounds that rye was their principal product, and it "was too bulky to transport across the mountains; therefore, having no market for it, they were obliged to convert it into the more easily transported article of whisky, which was the principal item which they had to barter for salt, sugar, and iron. They had cultivated their lands for years, at the peril of their lives, with but little or no protection from the federal government; and when, at last, they were enabled to raise a little surplus grain, to meet their expenses of living, they