In determining their signification, I begin by putting aside what is vague, unsatisfactory, and inapplicable, in order to bring the inquiry directly to American institutions.
I put aside all illustration derived from the speculations of ancient philosophers, because, on careful examination, it appears that the term “Republic,” as used by them, was so absolutely different from any idea among us as to exclude their definition from the debate. This captivating term is of Roman origin. It is the same as “commonwealth,” and means the public interest. As originally employed, it was not a specific term, describing a particular form of government, but a general term, embracing all governments, whether kingly, aristocratic, democratic, or mixed. Its equivalent in Greece was “polity,” being the general term for all governments. Therefore the definition of a Republic, according to these ancients, is simply the definition of an organized government, whether kingly, aristocratic, democratic, or mixed. Following this definition, the words of the Constitution are only the guaranty of an organized government, without determining its character. This, of course, leaves open the very question under consideration.
While the ancient nomenclature cannot be cited in determining the definition of a Republic, we may be encouraged by it in demanding that all government, whatever name it bears, shall be designed to establish justice and secure the general welfare. Thus, Plato, who commenced these interesting speculations, likens government to a just man, delighting in justice always, however treated by others; and the philosopher insists that every man is a government to himself as every community is a government to itself. His ideal commonwealth appears in a good man, and this analogy testifies to the government he conceived. Aristotle, in a different vein, and with more precision, opens by declaring that “every state is a certain community” or “partnership.”[59] This idea appears again when he says, “Nothing more characterizes a complete citizen than having a share in the judicial and executive part of the government.”[60] In various places he speaks of “the common good” as a special object,—as, “when the One, the Few, or the Many govern for the common good, theirs must be called a good government”[61]; and he defines a democracy as “where the freemen and the poor, being the majority, are masters of the government.”[62] The same ideas find new fervor and expansion, when Cicero says, “A republic is the interest of the people. But by the people I do not mean every assemblage of men, gathered together anyhow, but a body of men associated through agreement in right and community of interest.”[63] And then again, in another place, the Roman philosopher says, “Only in a state where the power of the people is supreme has Liberty any abode, and, where not equal, it is not really Liberty.”[64] But all these requirements or aspirations are applicable to any government, of whatever form; and it is well known that Cicero recorded his preference for a government tempered by admixture of the three different kinds; so that we are not advanced in our definition, unless we insist that our Republic should have all the virtues accorded to the ideal commonwealth. And yet there are two principles which all these philosophers teach: the first is justice; and the second is the duty of seeking the general welfare.
I next put aside the examples of history, as absolutely fallacious and inapplicable. In all ages, governments have been called Republics. Tacitus speaks of Rome under the tyranny of the Empire as the Republic; and Marcus Aurelius, while Emperor, pledges himself to the Republic. Indeed, there is hardly a government, from that of the great hunter Nimrod down to insulted and partitioned Poland, which has not been called Republic. In 1773, only a few years before the adoption of the National Constitution, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, after dividing Poland, undertook to establish fundamental laws for this conquered country, where was this declaration:—
“The government of Poland shall be forever free, independent, and of a republican form: the true principle of said government consisting in the strict execution of its laws, and the equilibrium of the three estates, namely, the king, the senate, and the equestrian order.”[65]
But a government thus composed cannot be recognized in this debate as “of a republican form.”
At the adoption of the Constitution, the most competent persons, who disagreed on other things, agreed in discarding these examples. Alexander Hamilton and John Adams met here on common ground. The former, in the Brief of his Argument, exhibits the various forms of government to which the term “Republic” has been applied.
“A Republic, a word used in various senses. Has been applied to aristocracies and monarchies. (1.) To Rome under the Kings. (2.) To Sparta, though a Senate for life. (3.) To Carthage, though the same. (4.) To United Netherlands, though Stadtholder, hereditary nobles. (5.) To Poland, though aristocracy and monarchy. (6.) To Great Britain, though monarchy, &c.”[66]