believe not in the existence of God, unless you would have me think
that you have lost the use of your reason."




LESSON XXXVII

REPUBLICS

The name Republic is written upon the oldest monuments of mankind. It
has been connected in all ages with the noble and the great in art and
letters.

It might be asked, what land has ever felt the influence of liberty,
that has not flourished like the spring? With regard to ourselves, we
can truly say that we live under a form of government the equal of
which the world has never seen. Is it, then, nothing to be free? How
many nations in the history of the world have proved themselves worthy
of being so?

Were all men as enlightened, as brave and as self-respecting as they
ought to be, would they suffer themselves to be insulted by any other
form of government than a republic? Can anything be more striking or
more sublime, than the idea of a republic like ours; which spreads over
a territory far more extensive than that of the ancient Roman empire?

And upon what is this great and glorious combination of states, so
admirably united, really founded? It is founded upon the maxims of
common sense and reason, without military despotism or monarchical