Page:John Adams - A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America Vol. I. (1787).djvu/244

206 from no horrid laughter or deed hall he abtain; but the tyrant within him, living without any retraint of law and government, hall lead him on to every mad attempt. Such as thee etablih as tyrant, the man who among them hath himelf mot of the tyrant, and in greatet trength within his own oul. If the city relucts, he hall bring in other young people, and chatie his formerly beloved mother and father country, as the Cretans ay. But liberty and true friendhiip the tyrannic dipoition never tated. Let us finih then our wort man. He will be awake uch as we decribed him aleep, and he who appears the mot wicked, hall really be the mot wretched; as many men as many minds; as city is to city, as to virtue and happines, o will man be to man; kingly government is the bet, and tyranny is the wort. No city is more wretched than that which is under tyranny, nor any more happy than that under regal power. Both the city and the tyrant hall be lavih, poor, timorous; and you will find more lamentations and groans, weepings and torments, than in any other city. We hould not merely conjecture about matters of uch importance, but mot thoroughly enquire into them, by reaoning of this kind, for the enquiry is concerning the mot important matter, a good life and a bad.

Such private men as are rich, and poes many laves, have this reemblance at leat of tyrants, that they rule over many: if they live ecurely, and are not afraid of their dometics, it is becaue the whole city gives aitance to each particular man: but if a god hould lift a man, his wife and children, with fifty laves, out of the city, and let them down in a deart, in what kind of fear would he be about himelf, his wife and children, let they hould be detroyed by the dometics! Such,