“What Is Government Itself, but the Greatest of All Reflections of Human Nature?”
That’s a famous line in Federalist No. 51, generally attributed to James Madison—but not quite. The line is actually, in context,
But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.
The phrase is “reflections on human nature,” and I take it that “reflection” there means—to quote the Oxford English Dictionary—
9. a. Something which brings discredit on (also upon) a person or thing.
… 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 189. ¶7 It is one of the greatest Reflections upon Human Nature that Paternal Instinct should be a stronger Motive to Love than Filial Gratitude.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xvi. vii. 60, I will not hear my Niece abused. It is a Reflection on my Family.
1819 Times 2 July 2/2 The honourable member … asserted, that it was a sad reflection on the house, that the Lords had paid greater attention to the security and protection of the subject than they (the House of Commons) had done….
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary likewise offers, as one decision of “reflection,” “Censure; reproach cast,” and giv
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