HISTORY OF VERMONT. 5^1 



CHAPTER XL 



State of Society. Nature of the ylhieri- 

 can Government. Constitution of Vermonty 

 Laws^ Coufities and Courts^ jinfiual Expense 

 of Government, Public Revenue^ Militia^ Pop- 

 ularity of the Government. 



Nature of the American GovERi^MENTi 

 THE object and the principle of gov- 

 ernment is the same, in every part of the United 

 States of America. The end or the design of 

 it, is the public business ; not the power, the e- 

 molument or the dignity, of the persons employ- 

 ed, but only that public business which concerns 

 either the whole federal territory, or some par- 

 ticular state. The principle on which all the 

 Ameri(:an governments are founded, is repre- 

 ssntaiion. They do not admit of sovereignty, 

 nobility, or any kind of hereditary powers ; but 

 only of powers granted by the people, ascertain- 

 ed by written constitutions, and exercised by 

 representation for a given time. 



Governments founded on this j5rinciplej 

 do not necessarily imply the s?,n\Q form. They 

 do not admit of monarchy, or aristocracy ; nor 

 do they admit of what was called democracy by 

 the ancients. In the ancient democracies the 

 public business was transacted in the assemblies 

 of the people : The whole body assembled to 

 judge and decide, upon public affairs. Upon 

 this account, the ancient democracies were found 

 to be unfit, and inadequate to the government 

 of a large nation. In America this difficulty 



