It is wholly characteristical of the purport, matter or object for which government ought to be instituted, and on which it is to be employed, Res-Publica, the public affairs, or the public good; or, literally translated, the public thing.
Paine defines a republic as a government instituted for the public affairs or the public good, explaining its Latin root.
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A knowledge of the practice was then joined to the theory; and all that was wanting to give it real existence was opportunity.
I know the value of moral instruction, and I have seen the danger of the contrary.
It was a sort of new form of government that insensibly served to put the old one out of sight and to unhinge it from the superstitious authority of antiquity.