Hamilton follows with perhaps equal authority. Though approaching political questions from opposite points of view, we find him uniting with Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison. Here is a glimpse of the definition he would supply:—
“As long as offices are open to all men and no constitutional rank is established, it is pure republicanism.”[142]
Not for an oligarchy, but for all, is a Republic created. Then again he testifies for Equal Rights, and against partial distinctions:—
“There can be no truer principle than this, that every individual of the community at large has an equal right to the protection of Government.… We propose a free government. Can it be so, if partial distinctions are maintained?”[143]
Again he says, in positive words:—
“A share in the sovereignty of the State, which is exercised by the citizens at large in voting at elections, is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a Republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law. It is that right by which we exist a free people.”[144]
He then exhibits the crowning lesson:—
“The principles of the Revolution taught the inhabitants of this country to risk their lives and fortunes in asserting their liberty, or, in other words, their right to a share in the government. That portion of the sovereignty to which each individual is entitled can never be too highly prized. It is that for which we have fought and bled.”[145]