The Federalist, or the New Constitution A Fragment on Government and An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Abstract

IN an interesting comment on "The Federalist", immediately after the publication in 1788 of the last of the essays of which it is composed, Washington wrote to Hamilton : "When the transient circumstances and fugitive performances which attended this crisis shall have disappeared, that work will merit the notice of posterity, because in it are candidly discussed the principles of freedom and the topics of government, which will always be interesting to mankind, so long as they shall be connected in civil society". With the rapid increase of American power in the past half-century, and the significant emphasis placed upon the ‘American way of life' in current political agitations, it is important that some effort should be made to understand the influences that have shaped the growth of the great Republic, and "The Federalist" must always stand as a revealing commentary on the struggles of its early days. Here it is presented in the simple but attractive format of Blackwell‘s "Political Texts" series, with a valuable introduction by Max Beloff.

The Federalist, or the New Constitution

By Alexander Hamilton James Madison John Jay. Pp. lxxi + 484. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1948.) 9s. 6d. net.

A Fragment on Government and An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

By Jeremy Bentham. Pp. lxvii + 435. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1948.) 9s. 6d. net.