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8 same direction and drew a sharp line between the advocates of a strong and of a feeble central government.

In addition to these causes there was a special development of what may be called the "individualism," which is generally found as a prominent feature of that theory of government which looks towards liberalism and democracy. That is, the development of the importance of the individual in relation to the State. Mr. Jefferson was a most advanced advocate of this principle. Under his leadership it was gradually advanced, and finding a ready acceptance, especially in the South and West, became one of the greatest forces in the development and permanence of the party he founded. The noble system of English law, which from the time of the first settlements had been firmly established in the colonies, had for some time been marked by a comparative neglect of the individual, a neglect which in its administration had been accentuated to such an extent that at the era of our revolution English jurisprudence seemed much too indifferent to the personal rights of citizens. Property rights were preferred to personal rights, and the most trifling violations of the former were visited with much more speedy and severe punishment than the most serious assaults upon the latter. The libel law was peculiarly oppressive, and its administration had been a scandal and a shame. The prosecutions under this law for a century before this country achieved its independence, had been enough to discourage the most