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'A government of laws and not of men.' Adams published articles in 1774 in the Boston, Massachusetts, Gazette using the pseudonym 'Novanglus.' In this paper he credited James Harrington with expressing the idea this way. Harrington described government as 'the empire of laws and not of men' in his 1656 work, The Commonwealth of Oceana, p. 35 (1771). The phrase gained wider currency when Adams used it in the Massachusetts Constitution, Bill of Rights, article 30 (1780).—Works, vol. 4, p. 230.

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Quote Author: John Heywood

John Heywood

John Heywood

John Heywood (c. 1497 - c. 1580) was an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs. He was born in or near London, but fled to Europe to avoid religious persecution for his Catholic faith and is believed to have died in Mechelen, Belgium. His son was the poet and translator Jasper Heywood, and his grandson was the poet and preacher John Donne.

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