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1. What We Mean by a Republic. One of the things which we Americans like about our country is that it has a republican form of government. All the independent nations in North or South America, like Mexico, Chili, and Brazil, for instance, are republics. In Europe, however, only France and Switzerland are republics. All the other countries are monarchies.
2. In a republic all the public officers either are chosen by the peoplor are appointed by somebody who is chosen by the people; and all the laws are made by a body of men who are chosen by the people. If the people do not like the laws which are made, they have only to choose a new body of lawmakers. And if the public officers do not do their dutas the people want it done, it is easy to make a change there, too. So you see that in a republic the people really govern themselves.
3. Kings and Emperors. In a monarchy it is different. At the head of the government is a monarch, called usually king, or emperor. He is not chosen by the people, but holds his place merely because his father was king or emperor before him. Neither can the people, if they do not like him, select some one else to take his place. He remains in his officas long as he lives, and when he dies his son, or, in some countries, his daughter, if there is no son, becomes monarch in his place.
4. How Russia is Governed. Russia is a good example of a pure monarchy. The monarch is called the tsar, which means emperor. When a tsar dies his oldest son, or, if he has no son, his oldest brother, at once succeeds to the throne, and holds it in turn as long as he lives. So the people have no voice in deciding who shall be their monarch.
5. All the laws are made by the tsar. Of course he has men whose duty it is to advise what the law shall be. But the tsar selects these men, and he does not have to be guided by their advice. So in reality he makes the laws, and the people have nothing to say about it.
6. Again, all the public officers are either appointed by the tsar or bsome one who is appointed by the tsar. So the people have no choice of rulers at all.
7. In short, the tsar governs Russia quite as he pleases. If he decides on war, it makes no difference what the people want. The armies an dthe fleets obey the tsar's orders; the taxes are laid and collected at hiswill. War and peace are at the tsar's pleasure.
8. A ruler who has so much power as this is called an absolute monarch. There are not many such among civilized nations. In nearly every country in Europe except Russia the people have some power in the government. But nearly all of them have a monarch, who rules for life, and is succeeded on his death by his son.
9. An Aristocracy. Most monarchies also have an aristocracy . By this we mean a body of men who have some privileges, especially political, which other men do not have. For instance, in England the laws are made by a body of men called parliament . Part of this body are chosen by the people, just as is the case in a republic. But the other part, called the house of lords , consists of men the most of whom have the right to be members of parliament merely because their fathers did before them. When a lord dies his oldest son at once takes his place, just as in case of the Russian tsar.
10. There was a time when the members of an aristocracy had many other privileges. But in most countries these have passed away. Still, in nations which have monarchs and aristocracies it is easy to see that the people cannot govern themselves as they do in a republic.
11. No Inherited Rank in a Republic. We have in our country no monarch and no hereditary lawmakers. It seems to us very droll that any man should hold a public office merely because his father did. Wknow that very often a son does not inherit his father's tastes or brains or good character. And we do not see why there should be a hereditary monarch or lord of parliament, any more than hereditary grocers or teachers or farmers. Indeed it is not many centuries since nearly all occupations were inherited in just that way. But people have learned that a shoemaker's son may be a very poor shoemaker, and that if he would rather be a tailor it is better not to interfere with him. And, anyway, we prefer to choose our own public officers, rather than havthem selected for us by the accident of birth. And we prefer to make our own laws, rather than to have them made for us by somebody we have not selected for that purpose.
LOG HUT WHERE LINCOLN WAS BORN
12. How Success May be Won in a Republic. In a republic it is quite possible for a very poor boy, if he has brains and perseverance enough, to rise to the highest rank. One of our greatest presidents was Abraham Lincoln. His father was a poor man, and Abraham as a boy lived in a log house on an Illinois farm, and did every day the roughest and hardest work. Books and schooling were not easy to get. But he was determined to learn all he could. So after a hard day's work he would spend his evening hours reading and studying by the light of pine knots burning on the hearth. On one occasion he borrowed an important book, and became so anxious to own it that he copied it word for word with pen and ink. After long years of patient toil he had learned enough to become a lawyer. In this profession he kept on with his habits of tireless industry, always learning more, always becoming more thoughtful and clear-sighted. Gradually he became a great political leader, and finally was elected president of the United States. In this office he showed rare wisdom at a time of the utmost public difficuand danger. There was a bloody civil war, and it seemed that the republic would fall to pieces. But it was saved. And his name will live as long as history tells the story of our republic. Thus the poor lad who hoed corn and split rails for a scanty living, became the head of a great nation. That could hardly happen in a monarchy. But many of our great men—statesmen, generals, orators—have had quite such a record as Lincoln's. In a republic there is a chance for every one.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN |
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW |
13. An American Poet's Apostrophe. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the greatest American poets. He was born in Maine in 1807, and died in 1882. He was graduated at Bowdoin College, in his native state, in 1825, and afterwards held a professorship in his alma mater . From that post he was called to a professorship in Harvard University. There he continued about twenty years, resigning to give his whole time to writing. In his long life he wrote many poems. The few lines following are from "The Building of the Ship."
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW
THOU, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity, with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
We know what master laid thy keel,
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel.
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge, and what a heat,
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear not each sudden sound and shock;
'Tis of the wave, and not the rock;
'Tis but the flapping of the sail
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest's roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee;
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with thee, —are all with thee!