The Government Class Book: A Manual of Instruction in the Principles of Constitutional Government and Law (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Government Class Book: A Manual of Instruction in the Principles of Constitutional Government and LawThe study of the principles of political science is a necessary part of a liberal education. In a country where the people govern themselves the science of government is a necessary part of a common-school education. In the United. States the people elect their own law-makers and rulers, establish their own constitutions, and determine, even the fundamental principles upon which men shall be governed. The danger of entrusting such power to the ignorant has not failed of illustration in our States and cities. Having universal suffrage, the people must learn to govern themselves for the sake of their own preservation and welfare.Nor is a knowledge of the principles of legal science less necessary to every citizen. The laws of man know as little of mercy as the laws of nature, in that law never admits ignorance as an excuse for wrong. It is a proof of the essential justice of our system of jurisprudence, that so many citizens pass safely through life, totally ignorant of the law, and relying merely upon their own sense of what should be. And yet every day gives proof that ignorance is always dangerous. The study of such a work as this will not make a youth a lawyer, but it will fix in his mind a system of broad principles, which cannot fail to be useful practically.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.