![[ADAMS, John (1735-1826)]. Thoughts on Government: Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies. In a Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1776.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2005/NYR/2005_NYR_01614_0062_000(102404).jpg?w=1)
细节
[ADAMS, John (1735-1826)]. Thoughts on Government: Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies. In a Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1776.
8o (162 x 113 mm). 28 pages. (A few pages evenly tanned.) Bound with six other contemporary works (see below) in one volume, contemporary half calf and marbled boards (extremities and boards slightly worn, joints a bit cracked), BUT IN FINE, UNSOPHISTICATED STATE. Provenance: Robert Patterson (1743-1824, signature on title-page). Patterson was professor of Mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania; president of the American Philosophical Society and one of the five men delegated by Thomas Jefferson to instruct Meriwether Lewis in preparation for his expedition with William Clark. Thomas Jefferson later named him director of the U.S. Mint.
ADAMS'S "THOUGHTS ON GOVERNMENT": THE FUNDAMENTAL PLAN FOR "THE WISEST AND HAPPIEST GOVERNMENT THAT HUMAN WISDOM CAN CONTRIVE," ISSUED THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
A PROFOUND INFLUENCE UPON THE CONSTITUTIONS OF VIRGINIA (1776) MASSACHUSETTS (1780), AND ULTIMATELY, THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION ITSELF
Thoughts of Government, published in the same annus mirabilis as the more famous Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence, and Adam Smith's magisterial Wealth of Nations, undoubtedly constitutes one of the single most influential writings by an American on the subject of government. Based on several letters to fellow patriots, codifying ideas for new state governments, Thoughts on Government gives--in a mere 28 pages--a detailed, carefully thought-out plan for republican government. It came to exert a powerful effect upon the forms of government adopted by several of the newly independent states and, in due time, on the structure of government embodied in the U.S. Constitution. It also constitutes a great rarity: while many institutions hold copies, this belies its great rarity in private hands and not a single copy is listed in American Book Prices Current since at least 1975.
Well before the Continental Congress declared Independence, it was evident that each colony had to institute new systems of government to replace that of the Crown. Provincial Congresses in three colonies--Massachusetts, North Carolina and Virginia--appealed directly to the Continental Congress for advice on ways to maintain the normal functions of government while in rebellion. On 10 May 1776, Congress formally recommended that each colony "adopt such government as shall...best conduce to the happiness and safety of their Constituents in particular, and America in general." Adams had by this date become one of the most influential and respected delegates in Congress and, more importantly, "the major proponent for the creation of new governments and constitutions for each colony" (Joseph Ellis, Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, p. 41).
Many delegates sought Adams's well-reasoned advice on these complex constitutional issues, among them Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, who visited Adams in Philadelphia on 14 November 1775. Lee was sufficiently impressed with Adams's suggestions to request a written copy of his thoughts, and Adams obliged the next day with an historic letter containing, in simple but quite specific terms, a "sketch" for a new form of government. Lee launched an industrious campaign to disseminate this in Virginia, where the new state constitution was already being formulated. In the meantime, others, including North Carolina's William Hooper and John Penn, also sought Adams's advice and requested copies in manuscript. George Wythe of Virginia, having seen one of the circulating copies, requested one, as did George Dickenson Sargeant of New Jersey. In each case, Adams laboriously complied, carefully re-copying, improving and expanding his plan. Finally, Richard Henry Lee, having become aware of the later, augmented plan, solicited a copy of the new version of the plan. Adams, at this point exhausted by the labor of copying, borrowed Wythe's copy and gave it to Lee, asking him to arrange for its publication. Lee, naturally, sought out the Philadelphia printer to the Congress, John Dunlap (who, three months later, would print the Declaration of Independence broadside). It issued from Dunlap's press by April 20, without Adams's name on the title-page. It appears that the edition was a very limited one, quickly distributed to delegates and legislators in the colonies.
At the end of his treatise, Adams enthusiastically proclaims to his readers: "You and I, dear friend, have been sent into life at a time when the greatest lawmakers of antiquity would have wished to live. How few of the human race have ever enjoyed an opportunity of making an election of government...When, before the present epoch, had three millions of people full power and a fair opportunity to form and establish the wisest and happiest government that human wisdom can contrive?"
Adams opens with the observation that "the divine science of politicks is the science of social happiness, and the blessings of society depend entirely on the constitutions of government, which are generally institutions that last for many generations, there can be no employment more agreeable to a benevolent mind, than a research after the best." It is widely accepted that "the happiness of society is the end of government." While it is evident that "fear is the foundation of most governments," yet "it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men, in whose breasts it predominates, so stupid, and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it."
He asks, rhetorically, "As good government, is an empire of laws, how shall your laws be made?," and "by what rules shall you chuse your Representatives?" The legislative assembly, he contends "should be in miniature, an exact portrait of the people at large. It should think, feel, reason, and act like them..." Adams then offers an early and very eloquent argument for a government based upon the principle of a separation of powers, for, he is convinced, "a people cannot be long free, nor ever happy, whose government is in one Assembly." He goes into considerable detail concerning the dangers of a single, all-powerful legislature, forcefully warning that "a single assembly is apt to grow ambitious, and after a time will not hesitate to make itself perpetual. A single assembly, possessed of all the powers of government, would make arbitrary laws for their own interest, execute all laws arbitrarily for their own interest, and adjudge all controversies in their own favor." (This is a conscious refutation of Thomas Paine's recently published Common Sense, which advocated just such a unicameral legislature without separation of powers or a system of checks and balances.)
Therefore, "to avoid these dangers let a distinct Assembly be constituted, as a mediator between the two extreme branches of the legislature, that which represents the people and that which is vested with the executive power." The "distinct assembly" was to be a sort of upper house or Senate, chosen by the elected members of the assembly. "These two bodies thus constituted, and made integral parts of the legislature, let them unite, and by joint ballot choose a Governor," the executive, who should be granted the power to veto acts of the legislature.
He advocates a strong, independent judiciary, on which "the dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people and every blessing of society, depends"; so the judicial power "ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent...so it may be a check upon both, as both should be checks upon that." He even forsees the possibility of a federal union: "If the Colonies should assume governments separately, they should be left entirely to their own choice of the forms, and if a Continental Constitution should be formed, it should be a Congress, containing a fair and adequate Representation of the Colonies," limited to matters such as "war, trade, disputes between Colony and Colony, the Post-Office, and the unappropriated lands."
Tracing the immediate and long-term consequences of Thoughts is beyond the scope of this description. As Bernstein writes, "It is difficult to estimate the influence that Thoughts on Government had on the first state constitutions. Adams had intended...to spur constitution-making in the southern states in the direction of republicanism, in the hope that they would adopt governments as democratic as those in New England. But Thoughts on Government found readers beyond Adams's intended audience. Most of the state constitutions framed after Adams wrote were consistent with his prescription, and his friends and colleagues in Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey and New York assured him that they had made good use of his advice. The constitutions of all these states established executives headed by a single governor and bicameral legislatures..." (Bernstein, Are we to be a Nation?: The Making of the Constitution, p. 52 et seq.). Thoughts on Government, which its author dismissed as "a trifle," became "perhaps the most influential plan for government of the many proposed in America during this time of revolutionary thought" (Bernstein, p. 48). And, in time, the Federal Constitution of 1789 itself would itself owe much to Adams's great writings on constitution-making. American Independence 205a; Evans 14639; Hildeburn 3478; Howes A-65; Sabin 254.
[Bound with:] [WITHERSPOON, John]. Essay on Money as a Medium of Commerce; with Remarks, on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Paper Admitted into General Circulation. Philadelphia, 1786. 60 pages. Half title. Evans 20154; Kress B1145; Sabin 104937. -- [MORTON, Thomas]. The Children in the Wood. A Musical Piece. New York, 1795. 60 pages. Frontispiece. First American edition. Evans 29117 -- PORTALIS, Jean Etienne Marie. Speech of M. Portalis...to the Legislative Body of France. New York, 1802. American Imprints 2915. -- BUCHAN, William. Letter to the Patentee Concerning the Medical Properties of the Fleecy Hosiery. Newark, N.J.: John Woods, 1796. "Third American edition." Bristol 9498; New Jersey Imprints 307; Austin 342. -- MORTON, Thomas. Speed the Plow: A Comedy. Philadelphia, 1800. "First American from the Third British Edition." Evans 38007. -- [ANON.] The Philadelphiad; or, New Pictures of the City. Vol. 1 [of 2]. Philadelphia, 1784. 68 (of 83) pages. Evans 18730; Hildeburn 3546; Sabin 62409.
8
ADAMS'S "THOUGHTS ON GOVERNMENT": THE FUNDAMENTAL PLAN FOR "THE WISEST AND HAPPIEST GOVERNMENT THAT HUMAN WISDOM CAN CONTRIVE," ISSUED THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
A PROFOUND INFLUENCE UPON THE CONSTITUTIONS OF VIRGINIA (1776) MASSACHUSETTS (1780), AND ULTIMATELY, THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION ITSELF
Thoughts of Government, published in the same annus mirabilis as the more famous Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence, and Adam Smith's magisterial Wealth of Nations, undoubtedly constitutes one of the single most influential writings by an American on the subject of government. Based on several letters to fellow patriots, codifying ideas for new state governments, Thoughts on Government gives--in a mere 28 pages--a detailed, carefully thought-out plan for republican government. It came to exert a powerful effect upon the forms of government adopted by several of the newly independent states and, in due time, on the structure of government embodied in the U.S. Constitution. It also constitutes a great rarity: while many institutions hold copies, this belies its great rarity in private hands and not a single copy is listed in American Book Prices Current since at least 1975.
Well before the Continental Congress declared Independence, it was evident that each colony had to institute new systems of government to replace that of the Crown. Provincial Congresses in three colonies--Massachusetts, North Carolina and Virginia--appealed directly to the Continental Congress for advice on ways to maintain the normal functions of government while in rebellion. On 10 May 1776, Congress formally recommended that each colony "adopt such government as shall...best conduce to the happiness and safety of their Constituents in particular, and America in general." Adams had by this date become one of the most influential and respected delegates in Congress and, more importantly, "the major proponent for the creation of new governments and constitutions for each colony" (Joseph Ellis, Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, p. 41).
Many delegates sought Adams's well-reasoned advice on these complex constitutional issues, among them Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, who visited Adams in Philadelphia on 14 November 1775. Lee was sufficiently impressed with Adams's suggestions to request a written copy of his thoughts, and Adams obliged the next day with an historic letter containing, in simple but quite specific terms, a "sketch" for a new form of government. Lee launched an industrious campaign to disseminate this in Virginia, where the new state constitution was already being formulated. In the meantime, others, including North Carolina's William Hooper and John Penn, also sought Adams's advice and requested copies in manuscript. George Wythe of Virginia, having seen one of the circulating copies, requested one, as did George Dickenson Sargeant of New Jersey. In each case, Adams laboriously complied, carefully re-copying, improving and expanding his plan. Finally, Richard Henry Lee, having become aware of the later, augmented plan, solicited a copy of the new version of the plan. Adams, at this point exhausted by the labor of copying, borrowed Wythe's copy and gave it to Lee, asking him to arrange for its publication. Lee, naturally, sought out the Philadelphia printer to the Congress, John Dunlap (who, three months later, would print the Declaration of Independence broadside). It issued from Dunlap's press by April 20, without Adams's name on the title-page. It appears that the edition was a very limited one, quickly distributed to delegates and legislators in the colonies.
At the end of his treatise, Adams enthusiastically proclaims to his readers: "You and I, dear friend, have been sent into life at a time when the greatest lawmakers of antiquity would have wished to live. How few of the human race have ever enjoyed an opportunity of making an election of government...When, before the present epoch, had three millions of people full power and a fair opportunity to form and establish the wisest and happiest government that human wisdom can contrive?"
Adams opens with the observation that "the divine science of politicks is the science of social happiness, and the blessings of society depend entirely on the constitutions of government, which are generally institutions that last for many generations, there can be no employment more agreeable to a benevolent mind, than a research after the best." It is widely accepted that "the happiness of society is the end of government." While it is evident that "fear is the foundation of most governments," yet "it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men, in whose breasts it predominates, so stupid, and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it."
He asks, rhetorically, "As good government, is an empire of laws, how shall your laws be made?," and "by what rules shall you chuse your Representatives?" The legislative assembly, he contends "should be in miniature, an exact portrait of the people at large. It should think, feel, reason, and act like them..." Adams then offers an early and very eloquent argument for a government based upon the principle of a separation of powers, for, he is convinced, "a people cannot be long free, nor ever happy, whose government is in one Assembly." He goes into considerable detail concerning the dangers of a single, all-powerful legislature, forcefully warning that "a single assembly is apt to grow ambitious, and after a time will not hesitate to make itself perpetual. A single assembly, possessed of all the powers of government, would make arbitrary laws for their own interest, execute all laws arbitrarily for their own interest, and adjudge all controversies in their own favor." (This is a conscious refutation of Thomas Paine's recently published Common Sense, which advocated just such a unicameral legislature without separation of powers or a system of checks and balances.)
Therefore, "to avoid these dangers let a distinct Assembly be constituted, as a mediator between the two extreme branches of the legislature, that which represents the people and that which is vested with the executive power." The "distinct assembly" was to be a sort of upper house or Senate, chosen by the elected members of the assembly. "These two bodies thus constituted, and made integral parts of the legislature, let them unite, and by joint ballot choose a Governor," the executive, who should be granted the power to veto acts of the legislature.
He advocates a strong, independent judiciary, on which "the dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people and every blessing of society, depends"; so the judicial power "ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent...so it may be a check upon both, as both should be checks upon that." He even forsees the possibility of a federal union: "If the Colonies should assume governments separately, they should be left entirely to their own choice of the forms, and if a Continental Constitution should be formed, it should be a Congress, containing a fair and adequate Representation of the Colonies," limited to matters such as "war, trade, disputes between Colony and Colony, the Post-Office, and the unappropriated lands."
Tracing the immediate and long-term consequences of Thoughts is beyond the scope of this description. As Bernstein writes, "It is difficult to estimate the influence that Thoughts on Government had on the first state constitutions. Adams had intended...to spur constitution-making in the southern states in the direction of republicanism, in the hope that they would adopt governments as democratic as those in New England. But Thoughts on Government found readers beyond Adams's intended audience. Most of the state constitutions framed after Adams wrote were consistent with his prescription, and his friends and colleagues in Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey and New York assured him that they had made good use of his advice. The constitutions of all these states established executives headed by a single governor and bicameral legislatures..." (Bernstein, Are we to be a Nation?: The Making of the Constitution, p. 52 et seq.). Thoughts on Government, which its author dismissed as "a trifle," became "perhaps the most influential plan for government of the many proposed in America during this time of revolutionary thought" (Bernstein, p. 48). And, in time, the Federal Constitution of 1789 itself would itself owe much to Adams's great writings on constitution-making. American Independence 205a; Evans 14639; Hildeburn 3478; Howes A-65; Sabin 254.
[Bound with:] [WITHERSPOON, John]. Essay on Money as a Medium of Commerce; with Remarks, on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Paper Admitted into General Circulation. Philadelphia, 1786. 60 pages. Half title. Evans 20154; Kress B1145; Sabin 104937. -- [MORTON, Thomas]. The Children in the Wood. A Musical Piece. New York, 1795. 60 pages. Frontispiece. First American edition. Evans 29117 -- PORTALIS, Jean Etienne Marie. Speech of M. Portalis...to the Legislative Body of France. New York, 1802. American Imprints 2915. -- BUCHAN, William. Letter to the Patentee Concerning the Medical Properties of the Fleecy Hosiery. Newark, N.J.: John Woods, 1796. "Third American edition." Bristol 9498; New Jersey Imprints 307; Austin 342. -- MORTON, Thomas. Speed the Plow: A Comedy. Philadelphia, 1800. "First American from the Third British Edition." Evans 38007. -- [ANON.] The Philadelphiad; or, New Pictures of the City. Vol. 1 [of 2]. Philadelphia, 1784. 68 (of 83) pages. Evans 18730; Hildeburn 3546; Sabin 62409.