Page:John Adams - A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America Vol. I. (1787).djvu/178

140 the executive power; and by controuling, in the legilature, their ambition and avarice, by an aembly of repreentatives on one ide, and by the executive authority on the other. Thus you will have the benefit of their widom, without fear of their paions. If among them there are ome of Lord Bolingbroke's guardian angels, there will be ome of his intruments of divine vengeance too: the latter will be here retrained by a three-fold tie; by the executive, power, by the repreentative aembly, and by their peers in the enate. But if thee were all admitted into a ingle popular aembly, the wort of them might in time obtain the acendancy of all the ret. In uch a ingle aembly, as has been oberved before, almot the whole of this aritocracy will make its appearance; being returned members of it by the election of the people: thee will be one clas. There will be another et of members, of middling rank and circumtances, who will jutly value themelves upon their independence, their integrity, and unbiaed affection to their country, and will pique themelves upon being under no obligation. But there will be a third clas, every one of whom will have his leader, among the members of the firt clas, whoe character he will celebrate, and whoe voice he will follow; and this party, after a coure of time, will be the mot numerous. The quetion then will be, whether this aritocracy in the houe will unite or divide? and it is too obvious, that detruction to freedom mut be the conequence equally of their union or of their diviion. If they unite generally in all things, as much as they certainly will in repecting each others wealth, birth, and parts, and conduct themelves with prudence, they will trengthen themelves by inenible degrees, by playing into each