Remember, Rome never is beaten,—­Romans may be.  It is inherent in the very idea of a republic that its peaceful servants shall be liable to be taken at fault.  The counsels of the many, which are meant to secure all men’s rights in tranquil times, cannot in the nature of things adapt themselves all at once to the sudden exigencies of war.  Consequently, a republic must expect to be beaten at first by any concentrated power of nearly equal strength.  After a time the commander-in-chief emerges from the confused mass of counsellors, and substitutes the action of one mind and will for the conflict of many.  The Romans recognized the Dictatorship as the necessary complement of the Republic; and it is worthy of remark that that high office was never abused so long as the people were worthy to be free. “Ne quid detrimenti respublica capiat” was the formula according to which they surrendered their liberty for the sake of their liberty.  A great danger, doubtless, for a people not leavened through and through with the spirit of freedom; but not so where the army is only the representative of a self-governing community.  This army is not like to enslave itself or the families it comes from, to please the leader whom it trusts for an emergency.  The pilot is absolute while the vessel is coming into harbor, but the crew are not afraid of his remaining master of the ship.  Washington’s reply to Nicola’s letter, proposing to make him King, was written at a time when the republican system under the shadow of which three generations have been bred up to manhood was but as a grain of mustard-seed compared to this mighty growth which now spreads over our land.  It is not likely that another man will make out so good a claim to supremacy as he; it is pretty certain, that, if he does, he will not have the opportunity of rejecting the insignia of royalty, and if this should happen, he can hardly forget the great example before him.

It is curious to see that the difficulties a general has to contend with now are much the same that were found in the first Revolution:  bad food,—­the poor surgeon at Valley Forge, whose diary was printed the other day, could not keep it on his stomach at any rate,—­insufficient clothing, and no shoes at all, as the bloody snow bore witness,—­and among our own New England troops “a spirit of insubordination which they took for independence,” as Washington expressed himself.  We do not think the New England men have rendered themselves liable to this reproach of late,—­and this is a remarkable tribute to the influence of a true republican training.  But in various quarters there has been enough of it, and the consequent disorganization of at least one free and easy regiment is no more than might have been expected.