LESSON XXXVII
REPUBLICS
The name Republic is written upon the oldest monuments of mankind. It has been connected in all ages with the noble and the great in art and letters.
It might be asked, what land has ever felt the influence of liberty, that has not flourished like the spring? With regard to ourselves, we can truly say that we live under a form of government the equal of which the world has never seen. Is it, then, nothing to be free? How many nations in the history of the world have proved themselves worthy of being so?
Were all men as enlightened, as brave and as self-respecting as they ought to be, would they suffer themselves to be insulted by any other form of government than a republic? Can anything be more striking or more sublime, than the idea of a republic like ours; which spreads over a territory far more extensive than that of the ancient Roman empire?
And upon what is this great and glorious combination of states, so admirably united, really founded? It is founded upon the maxims of common sense and reason, without military despotism or monarchical domination of any kind. The people simply govern themselves, and the government is of the people, by the people and for the people.