THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT; A PRAC- BY ANDREW W. YOUNG, AUTHOR OF "SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT," 66 'NEW EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED. NEW-YORK: N. C. MILLER, 25 PARK ROW. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by ANDREW W. YOUNG, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of New York. PREFACE. To preserve and transmit the blessings of civil and relig ious freedom, is the declared object of the people of the United States, in establishing their present form of government. The question, Will our liberties endure? has ever been one of deep solicitude to every true American patriot; a question to which different answers have been formed by different minds. It is generally conceded, that no other system of govern ment ever devised, is so well adapted to secure the objects for which all just governments are instituted, as our own. Its excellence alone, however, can not insure its duration. The grand element of its strength, is the public virtue and intelligence. Hence, the only well-founded hope of permanent political prosperity, lies in a general and an efficient system of education. Education is an interest of high importance to the people under any form of government; but it is more especially so in this country, where the people are not only in theory the source of power, but in practice are actually called upon to take an efficient part in constituting and administering the government. The exercise of political power ought to be directed by an enlightened judgment. The right of suffrage can scarcely be esteemed a privilege to him who is incapable of exercising it with discretion. While the constitution gives as much weight to the vote of the uninformed |