HR0492 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0492 LRB100 13071 MST 27458 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Most Serene Republic of San Marino was adopted on October 8, 1600, making the European enclave the world's oldest constitutional republic; and

WHEREAS, On the 3rd day of September, 2017, the Most Serene Republic of San Marino will celebrate the Feast of San Marino, a holiday recognizing the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic in A.D. 301; and

WHEREAS, In the mid-19th century, there were only a few republics in Europe; hundreds of letters poured in from all over the world in the spring of 1861, congratulating Abraham Lincoln, the favorite son of the State of Illinois, on his inauguration as President of the United States; one in particular from the oldest surviving republic in the world, "the Most Serene Republic of San Marino", caught the eye of Secretary of State William Henry Seward; the message was addressed to the new president of a much younger and most troubled republic facing secession and civil war; and

WHEREAS, President Lincoln was greatly moved by the letter and it stirred him to view the national calamity now facing his own country as part of a much grander question: what future, if any, did republican democracy have in a world beset by slavery and tyranny; and

WHEREAS, In his reply to San Marino, President Lincoln wrote: "Great and Good Friends .... Although your dominion is small, your State is nevertheless one of the most honored, in all history. It has by its experience demonstrated the truth, so full of encouragement to the friends of Humanity, that Government founded on Republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring"; and

WHEREAS, President Lincoln's letter then turned to America's troubles: "You have kindly adverted to the trial through which this Republic is now passing. It is one of deep import. It involves the question whether a Representative republic, extended and aggrandized so much as to be safe against foreign enemies can save itself from the dangers of domestic faction. I have faith in a good result."; a thought the president would place at the center of his Gettysburg Address, still two and a half years in the future; and

WHEREAS, In President Lincoln's reply to the Captains Regent on May 7, 1861, the United States of America by exchange of notes recognized the Most Serene Republic of San Marino through the President's acceptance of San Marino's offer of honorary citizenship; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Most Serene Republic of San Marino upon the 2017 celebration of the Feast of San Marino and of the foundation of the Republic, and with an enduring memory of the ties between our peoples we thank the people and Captains Regent of San Marino for their friendship to the United States and their recognition of President Abraham Lincoln; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the people and the Captains Regent of the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.