The American constitution has no prototype in
any prior constitution. The American form of government can be
classed throughout with none of the forms of government described
by Aristotle, or even by later authorities. Aristotle knew only
four forms of government: Monarchy, Aristocracy, Democracy, and
Mixed Governments. The American form is none of these, nor any
combination of them. It is original, a new contribution to
political science, and seeks to attain the end of all wise and
just government by means unknown or forbidden to the ancients,
and which have been but imperfectly comprehended even by American
political writers themselves. The originality of the American
constitution has been overlooked by the great majority even of
our own statesmen, who seek to explain it by analogies borrowed
from the constitutions of other states rather than by a profound
study of its own principles. They have taken too low a view of
it, and have rarely, if ever, appreciated its distinctive and
peculiar merits.
As the United States have vindicated their national unity and
integrity, and are preparing to take a new start in history,
nothing is more important than that they should take that new
start with a clear and definite view of their national
constitution, and with a distinct understanding of their
political mission in the future of the world.
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