Civil Government in the United States Considered with - Some Reference to Its Origins by John Fiske
page 50 of 467 (10%)
page 50 of 467 (10%)
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accordance with ignorance; and that is a kind of settlement likely
to be fraught with results disastrous to everybody. It cannot be too often repeated that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. People sometimes argue as if they supposed that because our national government is called a republic and not a monarchy, and because we have free schools and universal suffrage, therefore our liberties are forever secure. Our government is, indeed, in most respects, a marvel of political skill; and in ordinary times it runs so smoothly that now and then, absorbed as most of us are in domestic cares, we are apt to forget that it will not run of itself. To insure that the government of the nation or the state, of the city or the township, shall be properly administered, requires from every citizen the utmost watchfulness and intelligence of which he is capable. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. _To the teacher_. Encourage full answers. Do not permit anything like committing the text to memory. In the long run the pupil who relies upon his own language, however inferior it may be to that of the text, is better off. Naturally, with thoughtful study, the pupil's language will feel the influence of that of the text, and so improve. The important thing in any answer is the fundamental thought. This idea once grasped, the expression of it may receive some attention. The expression will often be broken and faulty, partly because of the immaturity of the pupil, and partly because of the newness and difficulty of the theme. Do not let the endeavour to secure excellent expression check a certain freedom and spontaneity that should be encouraged in the pupil. When the teacher desires to place special stress on excellent presentation, it is wise to assign topics |
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