20.Villages.In the country the farmhouses are generally quite far apart.But when a number of houses are built rather close together，so as to form a community of perhaps a few hundred people，the place is called a village .The houses are usually not farmhouses.There are generally one or more stores，blacksmith shops，churches，schoolhouses，with perhaps doctors，dressmakers，milliners，a postoffice.The larger the village the more of these will be found.
21.Of course villages are not all of the same size.Some are quite large，having even thousands of people.
22.A village has a government of its own，chosen by the people.What that government is，and what are its duties，we shall consider in another chapter.
23.Cities.A large number of people living rather near together is called a city.In a city there are streets in place of country roads.These streets are often paved with stone or brick or wooden blocks.There are many stores，churches，and schoolhouses，and usually a number of manufactures.
24.A city has a government of its own，which makes laws and sees that they are obeyed，and attends to all manner of public business.
25.As a city has a rather large number of people，it is usually divided for convenience into small neighborhoods，called wards .Each ward has some public officers chosen by the people.The wards are numbered.
26.Local SelfGovernment.We see that each part of our republic，whether state，county，city，or village，has a government of its own，chosen by the people.All these different kinds of government getalong without interfering with one another because each merely minds its own business.The state government must not make any laws which interfere with the national laws.The governments of the counties，cities，and villages must not interfere with the state laws.But anything which concerns nobody but a particular city is left altogether to that city.For example，the people of Chicago may want to pave one of their streets with stone.Well，what does it matter to anybody outside the city？The city of Chicago pays for it，and nobody else cares.So the state or the county gives no attention to it，and the city does what it pleases.That is what we call “local selfgovernment”or “home rule.”Each particular neighborhood is left free to manage its own affairs as it pleases.
27.The Local Divisions Are Not Our Country.Any man who has been born and brought up in a particular part of the republicin Massachusetts or Pennsylvania or Virginia or Californianaturally has an affection for his own state or his own city or his own county.That is his immediate home.The associations of his life gather around it.There are his friends and neighbors.There he does his work.He is proud of his own state or city，and is anxious for its added prosperity.
28.But，after all，our countrythe nation of which the flag is the symbolis the whole republic.Our first duty as citizens is to the republic.To be sure，unless we do our duty also as citizens in our home neighborhood，we shall very surely be bad citizens of the republic.But local jealousies and prejudice are entirely wrong for American patriots.The fact is that excellent people are found in every section of the land.And a real patriot is pleased when he hears of the prosperity of any portion of our country.
29.A distinguished citizen of Massachusetts，Mr.Robert C.Winthrop，put this so eloquently in one of his speeches that it is worth every man’s while to read it.Mr.Winthrop was educated at Harvard College，studied law with Daniel Webster，was a member of congress and United States senator from Massachusetts，and won wide reputation as a scholar and orator.He died in 1894.
The Patriot Traveller in a Foreign Land
ROBERT C.WINTHROP
IT is，without all question，my friends，one of the best influences of a sojourn in foreign lands，upon a heart which is not insensible to the influences of patriotism，that one forgets for a time，or remembers only with disgust and loathing，the contentions and controversies which so often alienate and embitter us at home.There is no room on that little map of his country which every patriot bears abroad with him，photographed on his heart，there is no room on that magical miniature map for territorial divisions or sectional boundaries.Large enough to reflect and reproduce the image and outlines of the whole Union，it repels all impression of the petty topographical features which belong to science and the schools.Still more does it repel the miserable seams and scratches by which sectional politicians have sought to illustrate their odious distinctions and comparisons.And so，the patriot traveller in foreign lands，with that chart impressed in lines of light and love on his memory，looks back on his country only as a whole.He learns to love it more than ever as a whole.He accustoms himself to think kindly of it，and to speak kindly of it，as a whole；and he comes home ready to defend it as a whole，alike from the invasion of hostile armies or the assaults of slanderous pens and tongues.He grasps the hand of an American abroad as the hand of a brother，without stopping to inquire whether he hails from Massachusetts or from South Carolina，from Maine or Louisiana，from Vermont or Virginia.It is enough that his passport bears the same broad seal，the same national emblem，with his own.And every time his own passport is inspected，every time he enters a new dominion or crosses a new frontier，every time he is delayed at the customhouse，or questioned by a policeman，or challenged by a sentinel，every time he is perplexed by a new language，or puzzled by a new variety of coinage or currency，he thanks his God with fresh fervency that through all the length and breadth of that land，beyond the swelling floods，which he is privileged and proud to call his own land，there is a common language，a common currency，a common Constitution，common laws and liberties，a common inheritance of glory from the past，and，if it be only true to itself，a common destiny of glory for the future！