kind of government. But by the constitution, the general government has power, and is bound, to prevent any state from changing its government to any other than a republican form. (Art. 4, § 4.)

8. In the progress of this work, the government of the United States has frequently been called the national government; but it is not wholly national. To have an idea of a government purely national, we must suppose the people united in one great government, with only one legis lature to make laws for the whole nation, one executive, and one judiciary. And in adopting a constitution, all the electors must vote directly for or against the proposed form, and a majority of all the votes must be necessary for its adoption, as when choosing a state constitution.

§ 9. But it must be kept in mind that the state governments existed first, and that the civil conduct of the citizens is regulated by the laws of the states. Although the general government, also, in some cases, acts directly upon individual citizens, and is superior to the state governments; yet its powers extend only to certain objects, which powers are given to it by the people of the states: consequently all powers which the constitution does not grant to the general government, remain with the states and the people.

§ 10. The government is therefore of a mixed nature, being partly national and partly federal. Federal signifies united by a league or confederation, and implies that the members have equal power. Such was the character of the old confederation; and some of its principles have been retained in the constitution.

§ 11. Under the former, all the states were equally repre sented in the congress, the members of which were chosen by the state legislatures. So in the senate, the states are equally represented now; and the senators are also appointed by the state legislatures. So in the adoption of the constitution the states had an equal voice; and so they must have in amending it. In these cases the federal principle is preserved. rations? $7. Are our states wholly sovereign? How, and to what ex tent are they prevented from changing their governments? 8. What would be necessary to make the general government purely national? $9. By what laws is the civil conduct of the citizens regulated? Whence does the general government derive its powers? 10. What two principles are combined in the general government? What is federal? 11, 12

12. Again: In electing a president by presidential elec. tors, each state having a number proportioned to its population, the election is upon the national principle. But if the election is to be made by the house of representatives, each state has an equal vote: this is according to the federal principle. Hence the government of the United States is sometimes called the "federal government."

§ 13. It may perhaps be asked: Why are so many governments necessary? Why not dispense with the state gov ernments, and let the people of the whole nation be united in one great national government, like that of a state? Such a plan would be impracticable. A single government could not make all the laws necessary for so great a nation, nor manage its numerous affairs. Hence, the interests of large portions and of different classes of the people must be neglected. Complaints and grievances would spring up in eve ry quarter, and the government could not satisfy or redress them; and disorder and confusion would soon prevail throughout the republic, and perhaps result in bloodshed. §14. Thus we see that our liberties are best secured by having the national territory divided into portions of convenient size, with a government in each, and by binding them together under a strong national government, which shall keep each of them within its own proper sphere.

§ 15. How highly favored the people who live under such a government as that which we have described! How dear should be the memory of those who achieved the independence of these states, and established the system of government which has conveyed to us, their descendants, the blessings of civil and religious freedom! And what a debt of gratitude is due to the Supreme Ruler of nations, for conducting a feeble and infant nation, through difficulties and dangers, to a state of unexampled prosperity and happiness!

16. With our patriot fathers, the great object was, independence and liberty. With us let the question be, How shall our liberties be preserved? Whether the American people shall long continue to enjoy the blessings which our

Wherein has the federal principle been retained? 13. Why might not the whole nation be under a single government? 14. How are our liberties best secured? 15. To whom are we indebted for all the blessings of good government? 16. On what does the continuance of our liberties"

excellent constitution is capable of securing to them, depends upon what shall be the character and conduct of the people themselves.

§ 17. A nation, to be prosperous and happy, must be vir. tuous. A community may live under a free constitution, and yet suffer all the evils of a despotism. The people may De their own oppressors. Bad laws in a republican govern. ment, are no less oppressive than in any other. Where there is not virtue in the body politic, bad men will be elected to office, and bad laws will be made.

§ 18. On the other hand, freedom may be enjoyed even in a monarchy. A wise and virtuous king will make good and wholesome laws; and his subjects may as truly enjoy civil and religious liberty, as the citizens of a republic. Freedom exists really wherever the laws are good, and where they are properly administered and duly respected.

§ 19. The people must also be intelligent. In general, the freedom and happiness of a nation are in proportion to its intelligence. If people are ignorant, they cannot gov ern themselves. Indeed, they know not what their natural rights are. Besides, if they are not well informed, they are liable to be deceived by intriguing politicians, who seek power only to use it for selfish purposes.

§20. Hence the necessity of vigilance also. As men in office are prone to abuse their power, they should be closely watched; and as they are but the servants of the people, they should be called to account for improper conduct : and the people must not suffer party prejudice to blind them to the errors of their greatest favorites.

§ 21. If, then, we would continue a free and happy people, we must be intelligent, virtuous, and vigilant. Our liber. ties may be preserved; and they WILL be preserved, as long as the general diffusion of useful knowledge shall continue to be liberally encouraged, and the conduct of our citizens, in their social and political relations, shall be governed by religious principle, and a genuine and enlightened patriotism.

depend? 17, 18. What is necessary to the happiness and prosperity of a nation? Can there be freedom in a monarchy? Where does it exist? 19. What are the effects of ignorance, in a community? 20. What is said in respect to the necessity of vigilance? $ 21. What, then, must be done?

APPENDIX.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

THE U ANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WHry, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal sition to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

y for

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary f the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation, till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of repre sentation in the legislature-a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomforta ble, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large, for their exercise, the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the condition of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states: For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences: For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.