p the position to which in case of victory
his pre-eminent ability and activity entitled him that it was altogether
doubtful whether he would be willing to accept it. He and all the other
men who marshalled or exhorted the opposing lines stood forth as the
acknowledged representatives of certain principles and public measures,
and in that capacity alone were they assailed or defended. The contest
was decided by strictly legal methods; no suspicion existed as to the
inviolability of the ballot-boxes or the correctness and validity of the
returns; and the cases in which corrupt or undue influence was charged
were reserved for the adjudication of impartial tribunals.

No one supposes that the impending struggle in the United States will be
of this nature. There is no question before the country involving the
policy of the government or the interests of the nation. There are no
leaders who are the representatives of any principle or idea. The ardor
of the contest will be confined to the men whose individual interests
are directly or indirectly at stake: the management of the contest will
be wholly in their hands, and no security will be felt as to the
legality of the result. Whatever display of popular enthusiasm may be
made will be chiefly of a factitious nature. Such excitement as may be
felt will be to a large extent of the kind which is awakened by a "big
show" or an athletic contest. The general mass of the voters will no
doubt fall into line in response to signals and cries which, though they
have lost their original meaning, still retain a certain efficacy, but a
great falling off from the old fervor and discipline will, we venture to
think, be almost everywhere apparent. More intelligent persons will
either stand aloof with conscious powerlessness or strike feebly and
wildly from a sense of embitterment. The energy put forth will indicate
disease rather than health; the activity exhibited will be not so much
that of a great organism as of the parasites that are preying on it.

It cannot be denied that there is in this country a natural tendency
toward political stagnation. With the exception of slavery and the
questions arising from it--which fill, it is true, a large space in our
history, but which must be considered abnormal in their origin--there
has never been any great and potent cause of dissension, such as rises
periodically in almost every country in Europe, setting class against
class, changing the form or