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So far are the suggestions of Montesquieu from standing in opposition to a general Union of the States, that he explicitly treats of a CONFEDERATE REPUBLIC as the expedient for extending the sphere of popular government, and reconciling the advantages of monarchy with those of republicanism.
"It is very probable,'' " (says he)<ref>"Spirit of Lawa,'' vol. i., book ix., chap. i.</ref> "that mankind would have been obliged at length to live constantly under the government of a single person, had they not contrived a kind of constitution that has all the internal advantages of a republican, together with the external force of a monarchical government. I mean a CONFEDERATE REPUBLIC.
"This form of government is a convention by which several smaller STATES agree to become members of a larger ONE, which they intend to form. It is a kind of assemblage of societies that constitute a new one, capable of increasing, by means of new associations, till they arrive to such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of the united body.
PUBLIUS.
[[Category: US History Documents]] [[Category: Historical Documents]] [[Category: Federalist Papers]]
* The Federalist No. 9 from [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp| The Avalon Project]