Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0492
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Full Text of HR0492  100th General Assembly

HR0492 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Most Serene Republic of
3San Marino was adopted on October 8, 1600, making the European
4enclave the world's oldest constitutional republic; and
 
5    WHEREAS, On the 3rd day of September, 2017, the Most Serene
6Republic of San Marino will celebrate the Feast of San Marino,
7a holiday recognizing the anniversary of the foundation of the
8Republic in A.D. 301; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In the mid-19th century, there were only a few
10republics in Europe; hundreds of letters poured in from all
11over the world in the spring of 1861, congratulating Abraham
12Lincoln, the favorite son of the State of Illinois, on his
13inauguration as President of the United States; one in
14particular from the oldest surviving republic in the world,
15"the Most Serene Republic of San Marino", caught the eye of
16Secretary of State William Henry Seward; the message was
17addressed to the new president of a much younger and most
18troubled republic facing secession and civil war; and
 
19    WHEREAS, President Lincoln was greatly moved by the letter
20and it stirred him to view the national calamity now facing his
21own country as part of a much grander question: what future, if
22any, did republican democracy have in a world beset by slavery

 

 

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1and tyranny; and
 
2    WHEREAS, In his reply to San Marino, President Lincoln
3wrote: "Great and Good Friends .... Although your dominion is
4small, your State is nevertheless one of the most honored, in
5all history. It has by its experience demonstrated the truth,
6so full of encouragement to the friends of Humanity, that
7Government founded on Republican principles is capable of being
8so administered as to be secure and enduring"; and
 
9    WHEREAS, President Lincoln's letter then turned to
10America's troubles: "You have kindly adverted to the trial
11through which this Republic is now passing. It is one of deep
12import. It involves the question whether a Representative
13republic, extended and aggrandized so much as to be safe
14against foreign enemies can save itself from the dangers of
15domestic faction. I have faith in a good result."; a thought
16the president would place at the center of his Gettysburg
17Address, still two and a half years in the future; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In President Lincoln's reply to the Captains
19Regent on May 7, 1861, the United States of America by exchange
20of notes recognized the Most Serene Republic of San Marino
21through the President's acceptance of San Marino's offer of
22honorary citizenship; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
2HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
3congratulate the Most Serene Republic of San Marino upon the
42017 celebration of the Feast of San Marino and of the
5foundation of the Republic, and with an enduring memory of the
6ties between our peoples we thank the people and Captains
7Regent of San Marino for their friendship to the United States
8and their recognition of President Abraham Lincoln; and be it
9further
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11presented to the people and the Captains Regent of the Most
12Serene Republic of San Marino.