CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Origin of the Republican Form of Government in the Uni'ed
that the earth revolves on its axis subject to the Constitution of the United States, he at least ascribes to the latter a semi-miraculous origin, and believes it to possess a greater share of the divine favour than any other existing form of government. We were under the impression that the Federal and State Constitutions were alike based on the ancient Constitution of this realm of England ; bat Mr. Straus, going to a far higher source, finds their exemplar in the God-given Hebrew Commonwealth. So, according to this theory, a theocracy and a democracy are convertible terms, and universal suffrage is a divine institution. Lord Beaconsfield might agree with him, but what will Sir Henry Maine say ? Here is a rhapsody indeed :— " Whether we conclude or not that the Republic of the United States is the direct heir of the Hebrew Commonwealth, we cannot fail to admit that the trials, sufferings, and fortitude of the children of Israel, during their long and weary wanderings from the land of their oppressors, until the organisation of popular government on the banks of the Jordan, have served in no inconsiderable degree as a glorious example and inspiring incentive to the American people in their heroic struggle for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and that the prophetic warnings of the last Judge of Israel, followed by the corroborating revelations of history, furnish in themselves the arguments that battered down the absurd doctrine of the ' Divine Right of Kings,' and its enslaving corrollaries, 'Unlimited Submis- sion' and Non-Resistance.' No one but He who rules the destinies of nations could have ordained that the bright Ban of Canaan should rise again in after ages with refulgent splendour over the vast con- tinent of America, and that the pore and unselfish spirit of Moses, Joshua, and Samuel should live again in a Franklin, a Washington, and an Adams."
We are not surprised to learn that this book has found -wide acceptance in the -United States—the absolute demos is as greedy of flattery as the absolute monarch—but we do not
augur for it any great popularity in this country. True, we are verging fast towards democracy, and the time may come when we shall sing our own praises as loudly as some of our American cousins sing theirs; but even then we shall probably not take any particular pleasure in the crowing of kindred cocks. In the meanwhile, cynics may find some satisfaction in remembering that the Moses, Joshua, and Samuel of the American Canaan were born Englishmen, and subjects of King George, and that none of their successors have been their equals.
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