has abolished the rights of
primogeniture, but circumstances have concurred to re-establish it under
a form of which none can complain, and by which no just rights are
impaired."

And Chancellor Kent, in his "Treatise upon American Law," observes--"It
cannot be doubted that the division of landed estates must produce great
evils when it is carried to such excess as that each parcel of land is
insufficient to support a family but these disadvantages have never been
felt in the United States, and _many generations must elapse_ before
they can be felt. The extent of our inhabited territory, the abundance
of adjacent land, and the continual stream of emigration flowing from
the shores of the Atlantic towards the interior of the country, suffice
as yet, and will long suffice, to _prevent_ the parcelling out of
estates."

There is, therefore, no want of preparation for an aristocracy in
America, and, although at present the rich are so much in the minority
that they cannot coalesce, such will not be the case, perhaps, in twenty
or thirty years; they have but to rally and make a stand when they
become more numerous and powerful, and they have every chance of
success. The fact is that an aristocracy is absolutely necessary for
America, both politically and morally, if the Americans wish their
institutions to hold together, for if some stop is not put to the
rapidly advancing power of the people, anarchy must be the result. I do
not mean an aristocracy of title; I mean such an aristocracy of talent
and power which wealth will give--an aristocracy which shall lead
society and purify it. How is this to be obtained in a democracy?--
simply by purchase. In a country where the suffrage is confined to
certain classes, as in England, such purchase is not to be obtained, as
the people who have the right of suffrage are not poor enough to be
bought; but in a country like America, where the suffrage is universal,
the people will eventually sell their birth-right; and if by such means
an aristocratical government is elected, it will be able to amend the
constitution, and pass what laws it pleases. This may appear visionary,
but it has been proved already that it can be done, and if it can be
done now, how much more easily will it be accomplished when the
population has quadrupled, and the division commences between the rich
and the poor. I say it has been done already, for it was done at the
last New York election. The democratic