[1] The prefix "Democratic" was not used by Jefferson; it became
established, however, and official.
[2] Under the rubric of "strict construction" fall the greatest
struggles in the party's history: those over the United States Bank,
over tariffs--for protection or for "revenue" only--over "internal
improvements," over issues of administrative economy in providing for
the "general welfare," &c. The course of the party has frequently
been inconsistent, and its doctrines have shown, absolutely
considered, progressive latitudinarianism.
[3] "Nationalistic" is used here and below, not in the sense of a
general nationalistic spirit, such as that of Jackson, but to
indicate the centralizing tendency of a broad construction of
constitutional powers in behalf of commerce and manufactures.
[4] Standing for protective tariffs, internal improvements, &c.
[5] It should be borne in mind, however, that the Democratic party of
Jackson was not strictly _identical_ with the Democratic-Republican
party of Jefferson,--and some writers date back the origin of the
present Democratic party only to 1828-1829.
[6] The Democratic national convention of 1832 was preceded by an
Anti-Masonic convention of 1830 and by the National-Republican
convention of 1831; but the Democratic platform of 1840 was the first
of its kind.
[7] The attitude of the Republican party was no less inconsistent and
evasive.
[8] It controlled the House of Representatives from 1874 to 1894
except in 1880-1882 and 1888-1890; but except for a time in
Cleveland's second term, there were never simultaneously a Democratic
president and a Democratic majority in Congress.
[9] Professor A. D. Morse in _International Monthly_, October 1900.
He adds, "It has done more to Americanize the foreigner than all
other parties." (It is predominant in the great cities of the
country.)
[10] In connexion with the prevalent popular tendency to regard the
president as a people's tribune, it may be noted that a strong
presidential veto is, historically, peculiarly a Democratic
contribution, owing to the history of Jackson's (compare Cleveland's)
administration.
DEMOCRITUS, probably the greatest of the Greek physical philosophers,
was a native of Abdera in Thrace, or as some say--probably wrongly--of
Miletus (Diog. Laërt. ix. 34). Our knowledge of his life is based almost
entirely on tradition of an untrustworthy kind. He seems to have been
born about 470 or 460 B.C., and was, therefore, an older contemporary of
Socrates. He inherited a considerable property, which enabled him to
travel widely in the East in search of information. In Egypt he settled
for seven years, during which he studied the mathematical and physical
systems of the ancient schools. The extent to which he was influenced by
the Magi and the Eastern astrologists is a matter of pure conjecture. He
returned from his travels impoverished; one tradition says that he
received 500 talents from his fellow-citizens, and that a public funeral
was decreed him. Another tradition states that he was regarded as insane
by the Abderitans, and that Hippocrates was summoned to cure him.
Diodorus Siculus tells us that he died at the age of ninety; others make
him as much as twenty years older. His works, according to Diogenes
Laërtius, numbered seventy-two, and were characterized by a purity of
style which compares favourably with that of Plato. The absurd epithet,
the "laughing philosopher," applied to him by some unknown and very
superficial thinker, may possibly have contributed in some measure to
the fact that his importance was for centuries overlooked. It is
interesting, however, to notice that Bacon (_De Principiis_) assigns to
him his true place in the history of thought, and points out that both
in his own day and later "in the times of Roman learning" he was spoken
of in terms of the highest praise. In the variety of his knowledge, and
in the importance of his influence on both Greek and modern speculation
he was the Aristotle of the 5th century, while the sanity of his
metaphysical theory has led many to regard him as the equal, if not the
superior, of Plato.