Mortals Hath Possessed

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How about "Jefferson and His Colleagues A Chronicle of the Virginia Dynasty" or "The Chaldean Account of Genesis" or . . .
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George Washington wrote a letter in 1788 to his friend, the Marquis de Lafayette. He wrote of the merits of the proposed U.S.Constitution and said there were some real defects, but they were not radical and he would not touch upon them at that time. Here is a part of it.


    . . . With regard to the two great points (the pivots on which the whole machine must move) my Creed is simple:
   1st -- That the general Government is not invested with more Powers than are indispensably necessary to perform the functions of a good Government; and, consequently, that no objection ought to be made against the quantity of Power delegated to it:
   2ly -- That these Powers (as the appointment of all Rulers will forever arise from, and, at short stated intervals, recur to the free suffrage of the People) are so distributed among the legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches, into which the general Government is arranged, that it can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an Oligarchy, an Aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form; so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the People.
   I would not be understood my dear marquis to speak of consequences which may be produced, in the revolution of ages, by corruptions of morals, profligacy of manners, and listlessness for the preservation of the natural and unalienable rights of mankind; nor of the successful usurpations that may be established at such an unpropitious juncture, upon the ruins of liberty, however, providently guarded and secured, as these are contingencies against which no human prudence can effectually provide. It will at least be a recommendation to the proposed Constitution that it is provided with more checks and barriers against the introduction of tyranny, and those of a nature less liable to be surmounted, than any government hitherto instituted among mortals, hath possessed. . .