9.3. 3. Other Requisites in a confederate Republic.
In the republic of Holland one province cannot conclude an alliance
without the consent of the others. This law, which is an excellent one,
and even necessary in a confederate republic, is wanting in the Germanic
constitution, where it would prevent the misfortunes that may happen to
the whole confederacy, through the imprudence, ambition, or avarice of a
single member. A republic united by a political confederacy has given
itself entirely up, and has nothing more to resign.
It is difficult for the united states to be all of equal power and
extent. The Lycian
[3]
republic was an association of twenty-three towns;
the large ones had three votes in the common council, the middling ones
two, and the small towns one. The Dutch republic consists of seven
provinces of different extent of territory, which have each one voice.
The cities of Lycia
[4]
contributed to the expenses of the state,
according to the proportion of suffrages. The provinces of the United
Netherlands cannot follow this proportion; they must be directed by that
of their power.
In Lycia
[5]
the judges and town magistrates were elected by the
common council, and according to the proportion already mentioned. In
the republic of Holland they are not chosen by the common council, but
each town names its magistrates. Were I to give a model of an excellent
confederate republic, I should pitch upon that of Lycia.
Footnotes
