University of Virginia Library

2773. EUROPE, Republican Government in.—

Whether the state of society in
Europe can bear a republican government, I
doubted, you know, when with you, and I
do now. A hereditary chief, strictly limited,
the right of war vested in the legislative body,
a rigid economy of the public contributions,
and absolute interdiction of all useless expenses,
will go far towards keeping the government
honest and unoppressive.—
To Marquis Lafayette. Washington ed. vii, 325. Ford ed., x, 280.
(M. 1823)