But no great democratic republic has hitherto existed in the world.

To style the oligarchy which ruled over France in 1793 by that name would be to offer an insult to the republican form of government.

The United States afford the first example of the kind.
The American Union has now subsisted for half a century, in the course of which time its existence has only once been attacked, namely, during the War of Independence.

At the commencement of that long war, various occurrences took place which betokened an extraordinary zeal for the service of the country.

*p But as the contest was prolonged, symptoms of private egotism began to show themselves.