§ 34. An aristocracy is a government in which supreme power is exercised by a privileged class of men, distinguished for their rank and wealth. The word is from the Greek, and means the government of the wisest or best. An oligarchy is a species of aristocracy. It is a government in which the supreme power is lodged in a few hands. This word is of similar origin, and signifies the government of a few. These words are now used in an odious sense.

§ 35. A limited monarchy is a government in which the people have some political rights. Great Britain and France are limited monarchies. In Great Britain the powers of government are in a king, nobles, and a body of men who represent the common people. The nobility are persons who are entitled by birth to the highest civil honors and privileges. These, with the archbishops and bishops, constitute the house of lords. The house of commons is composed of the representatives of cities, boroughs, and counties, and are chosen by persons possessing the property or quali fications required by law. These two branches of the gov ernment, when united in making laws, are called the parliament. All acts of parliament must be approved by the king before they become laws.

§ 36. In France, similar powers are exercised by a king, chamber of peers, and chamber of deputies. The king proposes the laws, makes appointments, and declares war. He nominates the peers, whose rank and dignity are somewhat similar to those of the English nobility. The deputies are elected by the electoral colleges. In the governments of Great Britain and France are combined the principles of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. They may therefore be called emphatically, mixed governments.

§ 37. A democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is in the hands of the people collectively, or in which the people meet in one assembly, and enact and execute the laws. The governments of ancient Greece were democracies. Every freeman was a member of the legis

§ 34. What is an aristocracy? An oligarchy? § 35. What is a limited monarchy? By whom are the powers of government exercised in Great Britain? § 36. How are the powers of government divided in France? What kinds of governments are those of Great Britain and France? 37. What is a democracy? § 38. What is the govern

ature, and voted personally in the assembly of the people. But this cannot be done in a large community. An assembly composed of all the freemen of a single state of this union would be too numerous to transact business. In the small democracies of Greece, their legislative assemblies were so large as to render it impossible for them to act with due deliberation; and much confusion and disorder often prevailed in them. The word democracy is derived from the Greek. demos, people, and kratos, power, and means ruling by the people.

§38. The government of the United States, as well as that of each of the states composing the union, though often called a democracy, is more properly styled a republic. A republic is a state in which the powers of government are exercised by representatives elected by the people. Instead of enacting laws in person, the people choose a small number to represent them. Ours is therefore a representative republic; or it may with propriety be termed a representative democracy, as all power emanates from the people, though in part exercised through their representatives.

CHAPTER V.

Of Sovereignty-and of the Separation and Distribution of the Political and Civil Powers.

§ 39. In all governments there is what is called a sovereign, or supreme power. The word sovereignty, when applied to a nation, means only its independence. A nation or state which has the right of making its own laws, and the right of making war and treaties with other nations, is called a sovereign or independent state. But in its application to the internal government of a state, the word sovereignty has a different meaning. It signifies supreme power; power

ment of the United States called? What is the difference between a republic and a pure democracy?

39. What is the meaning of sovereignty when applied to a na tion? What is it when applied to the internal government of a state?

superior to all other power in the state. Thus, in a despotism, sovereignty is said to reside in the king or supreme ruler, who is called the sovereign. In a democracy, where the people possess the power of governing themselves, the people are called sovereign. In the strict sense of the term, however, sovereignty, or unlimited, supreme power, is to be found in those governments only in which the power is exercised by one man, or a single body of men.

§ 40. In mixed, as well as in free governments, power is limited and regulated by a constitution, or charter. A constitution is the fundamental law of a state or kingdom. It is called the fundamental law, because it is the foundation of all other laws; that is, all laws subsequently enacted must conform to this law. A constitution has also the nature of a contract, as it expresses the terms by which the citizens of a state mutually agree to be governed. The fundamental law of France is called a charter, which is a written instrument conferring certain powers and privileges. In Great Britain it is called a constitution, but it is not written. It consists of the aggregate of laws, principles, and usages which have been formed in the course of ages, and have become established by long observance or general sanction.

§ 41. A proper distribution and limitation of the powers of government is of the highest importance. By the distribution and limitation of power, is meant the division of the political and civil powers of a government, and the assigning of each particular class of powers and duties to separate agents. These several agents or branches of the government hold a check upon each other; and all are accountable to the people from whom they derive their power; and the people themselves, as well as their agents, are restrained by the constitution.

§ 42. The division and limitation of the powers of government have been most happily effected by the constitution of the United States. The political power, that of forming or altering the constitution, the political laws, and of electing the officers of government, is retained and exercised by the

§ 40. How is power limited in mixed and free governments? What is a constitution? A charter? § 41. What is meant by the distribution and limitation of power? § 42. What is political power? Civil

people themselves. Another kind of power is that of making and administering laws for regulating the civil conduct of the citizens, called the civil power. Again the civil power is divided, and the several duties assigned to separate and distinct organs to one of these is entrusted the power of enacting laws, called the legislative power; to another, the executive power, or the power to execute and administer the laws; and to another the power of judging of and applying the laws, called the judicial power. These several depositories of power are so constituted as to ensure an independent and faithful discharge of their duties.

§ 43. In the mixed governments before mentioned, the civil power is divided and exercised in nearly the same manner as in this country. The civil institutions of Great Britain, especially, are in a great degree similar to our own. Indeed, ours may truly be said to be but an improvement of the model furnished by England. There is in both governments a separation of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers; and each of these powers, in both, is subject to nearly the same restrictions and limitations.

The

§ 44. There are material defects, however, in the g vernment of these limited monarchies. These defects consist chiefly in the limited extent to which political rights are enjoyed by the people, and in the want of a separation of the political and civil powers of the government. election of the chief magistrate and the members of the higher branch of the legislature, are political rights which are denied to the people. The king obtains his power by hereditary right, or right of birth; that is, he inherits it as property from his ancestors, and retains it by right during life. Thus he acquires and holds official power, independently of the people, and often contrary to their wishes. The nobles and peers also are independent of the people, obtaining their official power by right of birth, or by appointment of the king.

§ 45. The other defect in mixed governments is the absence of a proper distinction between the political and civil

power? How is the civil power divided? § 43. How is the civil power divided in England? § 44. In what respects are mixed governments defective? § 45. What other defect? § 46. What is the fault

powers. Their legislatures possess both the civil and political powers of legislation. They have the same power to make or alter a law that relates to the constitution, as to enact or repeal laws that relate to the civil administration. Their laws cannot therefore be adjudged unconstitutional.

§46. Other forms of government are in these particulars still more defective. In a despotic government, as the people enjoy no political rights, there are no political laws binding on the ruler. In a democracy, each citizen has an equal voice in passing all laws, both of a civil and political nature, and in the appointment of those who administer the laws. Thus enjoying political liberty without restraint, the government will be unstable as the popular sentiment; the laws are liable to change as often as every new faction predominates; and generally the minority are made to suffer from oppressive and unequal laws.

§ 47. In a representative form of government, in which the political rights of the people, and the civil powers of the government, are separately exercised, the evils incident to other governments are happily avoided. The government of the United States, in this, as in many other respects, furnishes an example of the superiority of this form of government over every other. The constitution wisely provides for the security of civil liberty, while it lays all necessary restraint upon the exercise of political power. It effectually and entirely separates the political from the civil power, reserving the former to the people. It divides the civil powers into legislative, executive, and judicial, definest the powers which belong to these several branches of the government, and confines each within its appropriate sphere of action. This system has been satisfactorily tested by the people of the United States, and is justly regarded as a model of government to other nations.

of a despotic government in this respect? Of a democracy? § 47. What are the characteristics of a representative form of government?