THE first principle upon which governments are formed, is this: that consolidation produces power; and the first problem that was presented to mankind to be worked out in the application of this principle, was :-In what manner shall this consolidation be effected, so as best to promote its object? In a high state of physical energy-such as characterized the early inhabitants of the earth, the idea of power was inseparable from the idea of happiness, and the noblest form of power was physical power. Hence the solution of the question seemed easy. It was self-evident, that the united force of a numerous body of men, looking to one common end, working for one object, and swayed by one mind, could accomplish much more than the same force would accomplish, working disjointedly, and with different moving principles. And, without experience to prove the contrary, the reasoning was conclusive, that the direction of affairs must be entrusted to one master mind, to procure the unity sought for. Consequently, it became necessary that the supreme direction of affairs should be entrusted to the wisest and most experienced heads, which were well judged to be the oldest, both for the framing of laws, the carrying on of extensive operations, and the administration of internal justice. This train of reasoning, so generally acquiesced in that it required not to be expounded, gave rise to the first, or patriarchal system. The gradual flow of the current of time washed out the direct relationship existing between the father and his subjects; but the descendants of the founders of governments possessing the blood, and supposed to possess the virtues of their man-deified progenitors, continued to rule, until patriarchism merged into despotism. Still, however, the principle held good, that consolidation produces power; and as rival empires commenced at the ends, as it were, of the then known world, by different branches of the family disjointed at Babel-extended their sovereignties until they clashed at their bounds, the old war spirit, and the vast operations which it called forth, favored the idea. But, as time rolled on, the despot, as might naturally be expected, forgot that he ruled for the benefit, and, in the first instance, by the sufferance of his subjects, and oppressed them, as well as others, as it suited his pleasure or his caprice.

The political philosophers of the first ages fell into the same error that the political economists of a later day hold. The one, starting from the true proposition that the consolidation power is advantageous to a country, arrived at the false conclusion that the consolidation of power in the

hands of one unaccountable and irresponsible governor, would be productive of no bad effects. The other, starting from the true proposition, that the consolidation of capital is advantageous to a country, arrived at the false conclusion, that the consolidation of the whole power in the hands of a favored few, would best promote the happiness and the prosperity of the whole people. That, in the one case, if we could be always assured, that the wisest and best, and most disinterested man, would be placed at the head of the nation, and would use his power solely for the happiness of the people, and their greatness rather than his own, the first conclusion might be a correct one, will be allowed as soon as the second conclusion would be, if every rich man held his wealth, as the cashier of a bank holds the keys of the vault, in trust for the less-favored sons of the soil. But, in the absence of such guarantee, and with the experience of ages against it, the first solution of the problem could not stand, and the task, after the lapse of centuries, appeared less easy than it was at first.

The second principle of government that was discovered was, that, in order to secure the stability of a government, every individual must feel a personal interest in it. It was evident to the most ordinary reasoners, that, however much the people might be convinced of the fact that consolidation gave them power-however much they might believe it to be true, they would have no interest at stake-nothing to make them rally round their standard, and battle for their country, whether with the strong arm or the strong mind, unless they felt that, having once lost their government, they had lost their all. Under a despotism, the subject, whether a soldier or a civilian, was but a mere tool in the hands of his ruler; and whatever advancement in knowledge or power was gained, he received no share of it, for the principle by which it worked was known only to the single mind which controlled it. Such a state of affairs was repugnant to the progressive intellect of mankind in general, and contributed to the failure of despotism, and the rise of republicanism.

Greece was the first expounder of this new law. In her earlier experience, its truth was proved beyond the possibility of a doubt. Under its application, each individual had a direct voice in his government, and the intellect expanded as a flower in a hot-bed. What country, not recognizing the principle in its fullest force, can boast of such poets, moralists, dramatists, lawgivers, soldiers, or patriots, as she? But in this one law, her political attainments stopped. Anxious to prove the truth of the discovery they had made, the Greeks paid little attention to that other principle, which appeared to have failed, on account of an error in practice. They consolidated themselves in very small bodies, and, in the course of time, dissensions sprung up which might have been avoided, but which ended, finally, in the rejection of this rule, and the return to the first. Then Greece sank, and the star of her destiny, bright as her own ideal of beauty, shone for a time with transcendent brilliancy in Alexander, and sank beneath the horizon for ever.

The Roman made no new discovery in the science of government; but taking the two principles left him in the legacy of the warring dynasties, he united them, and kept them separate. The first principle he applied, by reducing under his arms all the nations around him; and the second, he recognized in a system of laws and jurisprudence, and an internal policy, which has been the admiration of all succeeding nations. But he neither applied the first nor the second principle in its fullest extent; for, without the city walls, he bound his tributaries by no ties to the govern