Governing all by all

[This is my letter to John Cartwright, dated July 28, 1824. When people witnessed our first struggles in the war of independence, they little calculated, more than we did, on the rapid growth and prosperity of this country; on the practical demonstration it was about to exhibit, of the happy truth that man is capable of self-government, and only rendered otherwise by the moral degradation designedly superinduced on him by the wicked acts of his tyrants.]

In the contemplated improvements, touching the subdivisions of your counties, and their organization for giving them the nature of “small republics” there is intrinsic wisdom. Genuine self-government of a State, as an aggregate of men, implies self-government in all its subdivisions, emanating from the right of self-government in the individuals, and both are to be secured to the utmost extent compatible with the good of the whole. It is no other than a fundamental principle towards preserving a state’s vitality; and it is the secret whereby is brought about that perfection of a government, which is seen when to its presiding functionaries there is left as little as possible for them to busy themselves about; thus rendering their task most easy to themselves and most beneficial to the community; thereby producing the greatest attainable harmony and happiness. It is thus that Sir William Temple’s idea of governing “all by all” is reducible to practice.