LETTER XXVII.
MIXED OR COMPOSED GOVERNMENTS.
SIDNEY, PAGE 22, § 10.
Dear Sir,
SOME ſmall numbers of men, living within the precincts of one city, have, as it were, caſt into a common ſtock, the right which they had of governing themſelves and children, and, by common conſent, joining in one body, exerciſed ſuch power over every ſingle perſon as ſeemed beneficial to the whole; and this men call perfect democracy. Others choſe rather to be governed by a ſelect number of ſuch as moſt excelled in wiſdom and virtue; and this, according to the ſignificacion of the word, was called ariſtocracy. When one man excelled all others, the government was put into his hands, under the name of monarchy. But the wiſeſt, beſt, and by far the greateſt part of mankind, rejecting theſe ſimple ſpecies, did form governments mixed or compoſed of the three, as ſhall be proved hereafter, which commonly received their reſpective denomination from the part that prevailed, and did receive praiſe or blame, as they were well or ill proportioned.
Sidney, p. 138. § 16. The beſt governments of the world have been compoſed of monarchy, ariſtocracy, and democracy.
As for democracy, I believe it can ſuit only with the convenience of a ſmall town, accompanied with ſuch circumſtances as are ſeldom
