Page:John Adams - A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America Vol. I. (1787).djvu/223

Rh order.—Thus monarchy, when it becomes cruel and inolent, and begins to purue tyrannical meaures, is ubverted by an oligarchy, coniting of good men; and an oligarchy, compoed of the bet men, which is your form of government, when elated with riches and dependants, pays no regard to jutice, or to any other virtue, and is detroyed by a wie people: and in a democracy, when the people, from being modet in their deportment, and obervant of the laws, begin to run into diorders and excees, they are forced to return to their duty by the power with which, upon thoe occaions, the bet man of the commonwealth is inveted. You, fathers, have ued all possible precautions to prevent monarchical power from degenerating into tyranny; for, intead of a ingle peron, you have inveted two with the upreme power; and though you committed this magistracy to them, not for an indefinite time, but only for a year, you nevertheles appointed three hundred patricians, the mot repectable, both for their virtue and their age, of whom this enate is compoed, to watch over their conduct; but you do not eem hitherto to have appointed any to watch over your own, and to keep you within proper bounds. As for yourelves, I am as yet under no apprehenions, let you hould uffer your minds to be corrupted by great and accumulated properity, who have lately delivered your country from a long tyranny; and, through continual and lating wars, have not as yet had leiure to grow inolent and luxurious. But with regard to your ucceors, when I confider how great alterations length of time brings with it, I am afraid, let the men of power in the enate hould innovate, and ilently tranform our contitution to a monarchical tyranny: whereas,