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Quotation from A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America by John Adams
“What is the ingredient which in England has preserved the democratical authority? The balance, and that only.”
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, Preface (Works of John Adams, ed. C. F. Adams, vol. 4 (1851))
After praising the ancient Germanic institutions described by Tacitus, Adams credits England's survival as a free state to its balanced constitution.
Citation: "What is the ingredient which in England has preserved the democratical authority? The balance, and that only." — John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, Preface (Works of John Adams, ed. C. F. Adams, vol. 4 (1851)). (id a-defence-of-the-constitutions-q6)
Portrait: John Adams, Gilbert Stuart, Public domain.
