It will do the reader well to consider this. The following paragraph would have been easily read and understood by well over 75% of the people in the New Land prior to the U.S. Constitution being authorized by the people. Education in the Colonies was that good at the time. School was mandatory and the students learned so that the common man, male or female, became educated.
Little challenge for you. Can you read through this one time and catch all that the writer meant?
James Madison wrote in the Federalist #51
But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.
Please leave a comment on your thoughts.
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