Page:Back to the Republic.djvu/66

 elements that are necessary to make a republic, and that is its mighty virtue.

Of the men who framed the Constitution Mr. Thorpe, in his great work on the Constitutional History of the United States, says:

"Profound knowledge of all early plans of government of which history has record prepared them to take up the arduous civil problem before them."

After reading the Constitution the great Gladstone said:

"It is the greatest piece of work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man."

Gladstone must have been convinced that it provided for the best form of government ever conceived by the mind of man.

The world-famed William Pitt, when he read it, exclaimed:

"It will be the wonder and admiration of all future generations and the model of all future constitutions."

Dictionaries use the words "model" and "standard" synonymously. It would seem that Pitt must have foreseen what this book is trying to make clear. His was an exclamation of joy because of the mighty achievement of the founders of this republic, but if Pitt could return to earth