Besides, a certain degree of uniformity is desirable in this
as in all other things. No little loss and inconvenience would ensue if
the fancies of every individual were permitted to run riot, and no man's
taste were modified by that of his neighbor, or controlled by the
general inclination. It is impossible to conceive the motley and
discordant mass which a community of such people would present.
The bearing of these social phenomena in other directions and upon other
interests, is the subject of equal condemnation by the author. The
effect upon government, and the general tendency of the democratic
principle, are represented in such highly colored pictures as these:
'In sober truth, whatever homage may be professed, or even paid to
real or supposed mental superiority, the general tendency of things
throughout the world is to render mediocrity the ascendant power
among mankind.
* * * * *
'At present, individuals are lost in the crowd. In politics it is
almost a triviality to say that public opinion rules the world. The
only power deserving the name is that of masses, and of
governments, while they make themselves the organ of the tendencies
and instincts of masses. This is as true in the moral and social
relations of private life as in public transactions. Those whose
opinions go by the name of public opinions, are not always the same
sort of public; in America they are the whole white population; in
England, chiefly the middle class.
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