Page:John Adams - A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America Vol. I. (1787).djvu/203

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The balance of dominion in land is the natural caue of empire; and this is the principle which makes politics a cience undeniable throughout, and the mot demontrable of any whatever.—If a man, having one hundred pounds a year, may keep one ervant, or have one man at his command, then, having one hundred times o much, he may keep one hundred ervants; and this multiplied by a thouand, he may have one hundred thouand men at his command.—Now that the ingle peron, or nobility, of any country in Europe, that had but half o many men at command, would be king or prince, is that which I think no man can doubt. But "No money, no Swis."—The reaon why a ingle peron, or the nobility, that has one hundred thouand men, or half o many, at command, will have the government, is, that the etate in land, whereby they are able to maintain o many, in any European territory, mut over-balance the ret that remains to the people, at leat three parts in four. Now, for the fame reafon, if the people hold three parts in four of the territory, it is plain there can neither be any ingle peron or nobility able to dipute the government with them. In this cae, therefore, except force be interpoed, they govern themelves. So that by this computation of the balance of property or dominion in the land, you have, according to the three-fold foundation of property, the root or generation of the three-fold kind of government or empire. If one man be ole landlord of a territory, or over-balance the whole people, three parts in four, or thereabouts, he is grand eignior; for o the Turk, not from his