Page:John Adams - A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America Vol. I. (1787).djvu/73

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My dear Sir,

T is carcely poible to believe that Mr. Turgot, by collecting all authority into one center, could have intended an aritocratical aembly. He mut have meant, however, a imple form of government of ome kind or other; and there are but three kinds of imple forms, democracy, aritocracy, and monarchy. As we have gone through mot, if not all, the governments in Europe in which the people have any hare; it will throw much light upon our ubject if we proceed to the aritocracies and oligarchies; for we hall find ail thee under a neceity of etablihing orders, checks, and balances, as much as the democracies. As the people have been always neceicated to etablih monarchical and aritocratical powers, to check themelves from ruhing into anarchy; o have aritocratical bodies ever been obliged to contrive a number of diviions of their powers to check themelves from running into oligarchy.

The canton of Berne has no other overeign than the ingle city of Berne. The overeignty reides in the grand council, which has the legilative power, and the power of making peace, war, and alliances, and is compoed of two dred