the people of each State adopt the Constitution of that State, the instrument which determines how the government of the State is to be carried on; and the people of each State choose, from time to time, the Governor and Legislature of the State as their agents or representatives for carrying on the actual affairs of the government of the State. Then, by saying that it is a representative democracy, or republic, we mean that the people do not carry on the daily affairs of the government themselves, but do themselves choose agents or representatives for this purpose. And by saying that it is a federal republic, we mean that the functions or powers of government are divided between a national government and State governments.

179. The Union Indestructible.-Take away these State governments, destroy the States themselves, and the republic will no longer be federal. On the other hand, again, by federal is meant that the States making up the Union cannot exist except as parts of the Union. The people of any one State are a part of the people of the whole United States. The people of all the States, that is, of the whole United States, have declared that those affairs which concern the whole nation shall be managed by the representatives of the whole nation; or, in other words, by the national or federal government; and, at the same time, they have declared that the affairs which concern the people in other respects, or, their local affairs, shall be left to be dealt with by the people of the several States. The perpetuity of the Union is thus guaranteed; and the preservation of the States is equally well guarded. As the Supreme Court of the United States has said, the United States is "an indestructible Union of indestructible States."

CHAPTER XX.

THE ELEMENTS OF CIVIL LIBERTY.

§1. The Relations between the Government and the Individual.

180. Rights and Duties between Individuals.(The primary function or duty of government is to protect each individual in the enjoyment of his rights.) To do this it must require of each individual the performance of certain duties. Therefore, the government must require of each man the performance of such duties as are a condition of the enjoyment of his rights. Society is founded on a mutual give and take. The supposition is that each individual shall render to his fellow men an equivalent for what he receives from them.

So

The obligations which a man is required to observe are, for the most part, negative in their character. long as he does not interfere with the enjoyment of other persons' rights, no active duties are required of him. But if he does trespass upon the rights of another person, then it is the function of government to correct that interference so far as it may be able, and to take steps, by the punishment of the offender, to prevent a recurrence of the wrong.

181. Rights and Duties between Government and Individuals.-Government being thus an institution for the protection of rights, a relation, arises between the government and each individual. There are rights which the government has against the individual, and there are duties which the government owes to him. like manner each individual has rights against the government, and to the government he owes certain. duties.

In

182. Rights of the Government.-As between the government and the individual, the principal right which the government has is to the payment of the taxes which are necessary for the carrying out of its purposes. And the principal duty of the individual is the payment of these taxes. There is also the right of the government, in its hour of peril, to demand the services of all able-bodied men for its defense and preservation, and there is the duty on the part of such persons to respond to this call. Furthermore, in a free country like ours, these duties of the individual go farther, and it is a moral obligation of the highest kind for each individual to take a keen interest in the honor, integrity, and wellbeing of the government, and of each voter to exercise his right of selecting the officers of the government and of thereby directing the policy of the country.

183. Duties of the Government.The chief duty which the government owes to the individual is the assurance to him of the largest amount of liberty consistent with the liberty of other individuals.) This main duty of the government consists in protecting the individual against the unlawful acts of other persons and also against the illegal or tyrannical acts of the agents of the government itself.

Now, we think that in the United States, under the two Constitutions that govern each person, the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of his own State, each individual is better protected in his rights, that is, has a larger amount of liberty, than the individual has in other countries. In this chapter we shall seek to find out what are the principal rights which our Constitutions guarantee us, and how it happened that these Constitutions could and did provide for the security of these rights.

§ 2. History of Personal Rights in England.

184. Relation between English and American History. We know that the history of the United States is very closely connected with the history of England. We know that Americans and Englishmen belong to the same race. We know that the strip of Atlantic seaboard from which has been developed our great American territory was peopled by Englishmen, and once formed part of the British Empire. All the laws and institutions of English America were in the first place brought by our forefathers from England. Planted in a new soil, far away from the mother country, these laws and institutions, retaining still a likeness to the institutions of England, formed a growth of their own. And so, although it has its roots deep down in English history, the tree which shelters us is truly American. We ought never to forget that the reason why this tree of freedom is so vigorous, the reason why it has been able to extend its branches so far as to cover and protect us all, the reason why it has withstood the many storms that have assailed it, is because it has its roots so deeply imbedded in the history of our race.

185. The Chief Personal Rights.-The rights which are generally regarded as of the first importance, and which the government guarantees to all persons composing the nation, are commonly called the right of personal security, the right of personal liberty, the right of enjoying private property, and the right of religious belief and worship.

186. Tendency of Government to become Tyrannical. We may consider it the object of all governments to protect the people in the enjoyment of these rights. Yet history shows us that it is the tendency of nearly all governments to violate or avoid their duties and to over

ride or neglect the rights of the people. The tendency to become tyrannical has been shown in English history as well as in the history of other countries. The kings gathered into their hands all authority, exercising it arbitrarily, and violating the rights of the people. The people claimed that they ought by law to have the enjoyment of their personal rights; but the kings continually disregarded their remonstrances.

187. Restraints upon the Government.-The first climax came in 1215. Beginning with the Magna Charta of that date, along from generation to generation, as great landmarks in English history, we find the kings and Parliaments making written acknowledgments of these rights of the people.

These written compacts between the kings and the people are limitations upon the powers of the government and are guarantees of the rights of the people. They are really fragmentary parts of a Constitution.

Some account of these safeguards of liberty will show us the origin of many of the most valued of our American rights.

188. Magna Charta.-The Magna Charta was extorted from King John in 1215 by the barons of England. The body of the people had not reached a high enough stage of education, independence, and union to assert their rights for themselves. This venerable and famous document acknowledges and guarantees the following rights:

No tax should be levied without the authority of a great council summoned by the king. This council grew into the Parliament of England, and is the remote ancestor of our American Congress and our own State Legislature. By this provision the power of taxation. was committed to Parliament. This power is the key