SECRECY & DISPATCH

AM | @HDI1780

"...resolution, secrecy, and dispatch... — David Hume

When it comes to constitutional principles, one of the most spectacular differences between the American and the French revolutions relates to the nature of the executive power. While most American writers favored a strong and unitary executive power —especially after the semi-anarchy of 1783-1787—, the vast majority of French writers called for a subordinated and plural executive. To the extent that its authors embraced the "English" view as described by Jean-Louis De Lolme, Histoire des deux Indes is something of an exception. In May 1791, Raynal himself, at the age of 78, courageously defended this position in Assemblée nationale, to the dismay of ... Maximilien Robespierre.

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After spending an entire hour with Google Books' search functions and the words "secrecy, secresy, dispatch, despatch, célérité, secret", I have come to the (preliminary) conclusion that Histoire des deux Indes is indeed a key source of ... American constitutionalism! (I have already mentioned the striking similarities between Diderot and Madison: see). Ever since the constitutional debates of 1787-1788, the phrase secrecy and dispatch has played a major role in shaping the debates about the nature of the executive power. The phrase shows up in translations of Polybius, and was widely used by eigthteenth-century historians (*).

But it's HDI 1780 (xix.2, paragraph 82, p. 78) that provides the clearest modern definition of the broad features of a strong, unitary executive:

Toutes les histoires attestent que par-tout où le pouvoir exécutif a été partagé, des jalousies, des haînes interminables ont agité les esprits, & qu’une lutte sanglante a toujours abouti à la ruine des loix, à l’établissement du plus fort. Cette considération détermina les Anglois à conférer au roi seul cette espèce de puissance, qui n’est rien lorsqu’elle est divisée; parce qu’il n’y a plus alors, ni cet accord, ni ce secret, ni cette célérité, qui peuvent seuls lui donner de l’énergie.

American constitutionalism:

. Alexander Hamilton. "That unity is conducive to energy will not be disputed. Decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch will generally characterise the proceedings of one man, in a much more eminent degree, than the proceedings of any greater number; and in proportion as the number is increased, these qualities will be diminished." (Federalist No. 70, 1788). See also footnote 6 here: "...with all possible secrecy and dispatch".

. John Jay. "...perfect secrecy and immediate despatch are sometimes requisite [....] we heretofore suffered from the want of secrecy and despatch [...] those matters which in negotiations usually require the most secrecy and the most despatch". (Federalist No. 64, 1788).

. George Mason. Altough opposed to a one-man executive, Mason acknowledged that executive unity furthered "the Secrecy, the Dispatch, the Vigour and the Energy" of the government" [see].

. James Wilson. "The advantages of monarchy are strength, dispatch, secrecy, unity of counsel [...] Secrecy may be as equally necessary as dispatch. But can either secrecy or dispatch be expected, when, to every enterprise, mutual communication, mutual consultation are indispensably necessary?" See his "Speech in the Pennsylvania Convention", 24 November 1787 [see].

. George Washington. "I hope the business will be essayed in a full Convention—After which, if more powers, and more decision is not found in the existing form—If it still wants energy and that secresy and dispatch (either from the non-attendance, or the local views of its members) which is characteristick of good Government". George Washington to James Madison, 31 March 1787 [see].

. James Iredell. "One of the great advantages attending a single Executive power is, the degree of secrecy and dispatch with which, on critical occasions, such a power can act [...] From the nature of the thing, the command of armies ought to be delegated to one person only. The secrecy, despatch, and decision, which are necessary in military operations, can only be expected from one person", 1787 [see]

British writers:

. Richard Price. "Liberty, though the most essential requisite in government, is not the only one; wisdom, union, dispatch, secrecy, and vigour are likewise requisite; and that is the best form of government which best unites all these qualities [...] One of the best plans of this kind has been, with much ability, described by Mr. De Lolme, in his account of the Constitution of England" [see].

. Adam Ferguson. "Occasions on which the executive must be exerted, are either continual or casual; and in case of danger from abroad, require secrecy and dispatch [...] The resolutions of the executive require more secrecy and dispatch that can be had in any numerous or popular assemblies", Institutes of Moral Philosophy, 1786, pp. 202-203. 

. Adam Ferguson. "Of the functions of executive power, some are in continual exertion; others, wether casual or periodical, are only occasional. Some require great secrecy and dispatch; other admit of being publicly known, and may be the better directed for having been publicly discussed", Principles of Moral and Political Science, Vol. II. London: A. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1792, p. 485.

(*) "...par le secret & la célérité d'une marche inopinée & bien concertée", Histoire de Polybe. Amsterdam: 1751, p. 124 [see]; "...and Polybius, the historian, who was at Rome, was one of those who pressed him with the utmost warmth to put it in execution with secrecy and dispatch", The Antient History, Vol. VII. London: 1806, p. 341; "Mahomet étoit pénétré de cette maxime, que le secret et la célérité sont deux grands moyens pour réussir dans les grandes entreprises, et surtout dans celles de la guerre", Histoire du Bas-Empire. Paris: 1768. And much more to come...
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IT'S JOHN ADAMS!

AM | @HDI1780

"... secresy and dispatch... — George Washington

Time to drastically downgrade my claims about the precedence of Histoire des deux Indes as the source of the phrase secrecy and dispatch, widely used in America in the context of the executive power. I had forgotten to include John Adams's wonderful pamphlet "Thoughts on Government" (April 1776): "A representative assembly, although extremely well qualified, and absolutely necessary, as a branch of the legislative, is unfit to exercise the executive power, for want of two essential properties, secrecy and despatch."

Sorry about that! (Still, it's two steps forward, one step back).

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Yet I remain confident about another claim: it was Diderot who first used these magic words in the context of the executive power [see]. Adams, a keen reader of Polybius, Encyclopédie and De Lolme, might have taken them from the English translation of The Constitution of England, and transmitted the idea back to Raynal in 1779. If this was indeed the case, then Raynal (and not Diderot) is the likely author of the changes introduced in the 1780 edition of HDI with respect to the government of England. (These passages do not feature in Laurent Versini's edition of Œuvres, Tome III).

Confusing? Sure. But the confusion only underlines the validity of another of my claims: ideas and rhetorical expressions circulated widely and ...very quickly! Anyway, here are more examples of the phrase secrecy and dispatch:

. Burke. "A detachment was sent to destroy a Magazine which the Americans were forming at a Village they call Concord. It proceeded with secrecy and dispatch." To Charles O'Hara, circa May 1775 [see].

. Raynal. "The expeditions are by these means carried on with greater secrecy and dispatch". This is interesting, because it comes from the 1776 translation of HDI published by J. Justamond in Dublin. This may be the edition so eagerly read by George Washington, and recommended to him by La Fayette. Note that the corresponding passage, by Alexandre Deleyre, does not refer to secret et célérité, but to "plus secretes & plus promptes" [see]. A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans on the Continent of North America, Vol. 4. Dublin: 1776, p. 464 [see].

. Raynal. "Il résulte d'un ordre de choses si compliqué que les résolutions qui exigeroient le plus de secret & de célérité, sont nécessairement lentes & publiques" (xix.2, p. 91). This is the second instance in HDI 1780 where the words are explicitely used in the context of the executive power — in the Netherlands in this case.

. Grimm. "...le salut d'une puissance dépend souvent de la célérité de ses mesures ... l'éxécution des projets ... il lui faut du secret" (1757) [see]. See also Allan Ramsay's letter about Beccaria, translated by Diderot in 1766: "... la force et la célérité de la puissance éxécutrice" (p. 549).
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IT'S DIDEROT!

AM | @HDI1780

"...en Angleterre, ce sont les deux chambres & le roi" — Diderot

Before the publication of the Federalist papers, the clearest statement about the advantages that a unitary executive derives from "secrecy and dispatch" comes from Histoire des deux Indes (xix.2, paragraph 82, p. 78) [see]. But who penned that paragraph? Denis Diderot or Guillaume-Thomas Raynal? With the help of GoogleBooks, I have searched previous works of Raynal, such as Histoire du Parlement d'Angleterre and Histoire du Stathoudérat, and I found no traces of secret, célérité.

* * *

I am pretty sure that the phrase comes from translations of Polybius's Histories. We find it in works by David Hume, Jean-Louis De Lolme, and others (*). But now look at Encyclopédie's article LÉGISLATEUR (1751), by Diderot: "...& c’est ici le triomphe du gouvernement monarchique ; c’est dans la guerre sur-tout qu’il a de l’avantage sur le gouvernement républicain ; il a pour lui le secret, l’union, la célérité, point d’opposition, point de lenteur." Diderot seems to be the only author —before the Federalist papers,— who mentions these magic words in the context of the executive power.

So it's Diderot!

It's time for some conclusions:

(1) Sources. Is Histoire des deux Indes a key source of the Federalist papers? The more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense. A good part of Madison's No. 10 seems to be based on Diderot's chapters 35 and 42 of Book xviii of HDI. (I presented that argument in my book). The same could be said of Hamilton's No. 70.

(2) Mixed government. As the editors of The Founders' Constitution put it, the single executive power is the point at which the old Greek theory of mixed governent and the modern theory of the separation of powers meet. Brilliant!

(3) Political thought. There is no such thing as a "pure" American, English or French political thought. Authors borrowed extensively from each other; books, pamphlets and letters crossed the Channel and the Atlantic in the same vessels that transported goods and ... human beings.

(4) Greek authors. In the end, the top Enlightenment thinkers were the ones that mastered their Latin and Greek sources; among other things, it gave them a key advantage in terms of the felicity of their rhetorical expression. Quick! Time to perform my exercises from Lesson four of 40 Leçons pour découvrir le grec ancien:

O κὀσµoς εστi µακρóς, etc.

(*) David Hume: "...such was the resolution, secrecy and dispatch with which he conducted this enteprise" (History of England) [see]; John Marshall: "....notwithstanding the secrecy and dispatch that were used..." [see]; Guillaume-Thomas Raynal: "L'exécution de ce projet exigeoit une grande célérité, un secret impénétrable..." (HDI 1780, vi.10); De Lolme: "...and military Messengers were sent with every circumstance of secrecy and dispatch..." [see].
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DE LOLME & HISTOIRE DES DEUX INDES

AM | @HDI1780

"...c'est la Puissance Royale qui est ce contrepoids" — De Lolme

I have already noted that, under pressure from events in North America, Guillaume-Thomas Raynal introduced some pretty significant changes to the 1774 edition of Histoire des deux Indes in the paragraphs devoted to England's "mixed government" (1, 2, 3). As it turns out, the 1780 revision is more extensive than I had originally thought. And it borrows heavily from the first edition of Jean-Louis De Lolme's La Constitution de l'Angleterre (Amsterdam, 1771):

La première singularité du Gouvernement de l'Angleterre, à titre d'Etat libre, c'est d'avoir un roi. (De Lolme, xi, p. 142).

La première singularité heureuse de la Grande-Bretagne est d’avoir un roi. (HDI 1780, xix.2, p. 75).
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C'est en faisant un grand & un très-grand citoyen, qu'on a empêché qu'il ne s'en élevât plusieurs . (De Lolme, xi, p. 143).

En créant un très-grand citoyen, l'Angleterre a empêché qu’il ne s’en élevât plusieurs. (HDI 1780, xix.2, p. 75).
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La seconde singularité que l'Angleterre, comme ne formant qu'un seul Etat & un Etat libre, offre dans sa Constitution, c'est la division de la Puissance législative. (De Lolme, xi, p. 162)

Un plus grand appui encore pour la liberté Angloise, c’est le partage du pouvoir législatif. (HDI 1780, xix.2, p. 75).
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La grandeur des prérogatives... (De Lolme, xi, p. 150).

De cette grande prérogative...(HDI 1780, xix.2, p. 78).
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Thereafter, Histoire des deux Indes gently drifts away from De Lolme. Still, the text includes a crucial statement on the executive power, possibly taken from the 1775 English translation of De Lolme, which features two words —secret, célérité, secrecy, dispatch— that will inspire America's founding fathers and their views on the nature of the executive branch [see]:

Toutes les histoires attestent que par-tout où le pouvoir exécutif a été partagé, des jalousies, des haînes interminables ont agité les esprits, & qu’une lutte sanglante a toujours abouti à la ruine des loix, à l’établissement du plus fort. Cette considération détermina les Anglois à conférer au roi seul cette espèce de puissance, qui n’est rien lorsqu’elle est divisée; parce qu’il n’y a plus alors, ni cet accord, ni ce secret, ni cette célérité, qui peuvent seuls lui donner de l’énergie (HDI 1780, xix.2, p. 78) (*).

(*) De Lolme: "...with every circumstance of secrecy and dispatch" (1784, xvii). I have been unable to find a Google Books-digitized version of the 1775 English edition. In 1778, Richard Price credited De Lolme with this definition of good government: "...wisdom, union, dispatch, secrecy and vigour" [see]. These magic words also feature in Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767) although, again, I have been unable to find the original version of that book.
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DE LOLME, HISTOIRE DES DEUX INDES & THE NATURE OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER

AM | @agumack

Reflecting on the lack of a proper executive power in the Netherlands, Alexandre Deleyre writes: "Il résulte d’un ordre de choses si compliqué que les résolutions qui exigeroient le plus de secret & de célérité, sont nécessairement lentes & publiques" (HDI 1780, xix.2). Secret & célérité are two of the key attributes of any executive authority in a well organized polity. In chapter 10 of Book VI, Hernán Cortés's retreat from Mexico City is described by Raynal as follows: "L'éxécution de ce projet exigeoit une grande célérité, un secret impénétrable".

Now look at the words used by John Adams to describe the executive power: "A representative assembly, although extremely well qualified, and absolutely necessary, as a branch of the legislative, is unfit to exercise the executive power, for want of two essential properties, secrecy and despatch" ("Thoughts on Government", 1776). And here's Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 70:"Decision, activity, secrecy, and despatch will generally characterize the proceedings of one man in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number". 

The missing link, ladies and gentlemen, is Jean-Louis De Lolme's book on La Constitution de l'Angleterre (London, 1771). More on this issue in the coming weeks ... or in chapter 6 of the book!
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WITHOUT TUMULT

AM | @HDI1780

"... without tumult and faction ..." — David Hume

Search engines allow us to better understand what Condorcet called "révolutions du langage" in the Eighteenth century [see]. As it turns out, hundreds of turns of phrase, expressions and words circulated widely among writers. To the extent that we can trace their origins, they provide interesting clues to the reading (and writing) habits of some of the most important authors. Mariano Moreno refers to Thomas Jefferson in the following terms: "Oigamos á M. Jefferson ... este juicioso escritor" (Gazeta de Buenos-Ayres, November 28, 1810).

This is taken from Raynal, as he mentions Montesquieu: « Aucun des auditeurs ne soupçonna les véritables vues d’un écrivain si judicieux ...» (HDI 1780, xiv.22). The Frenchman, in turn, derived the expression from David Hume: "Arrian, a very grave, judicious writer ..." ("Of the rise and progress of the arts and sciences", 1742, note 38). Hume also inspired James Madison: "It had been observed by judicious writers ..." (Debates in the Federal Convention, 1787). Did Hume take it from John Locke? Quite possibly: "We are mightily beholding to judicious writers of all ages..." [see]. And so on.

* * *

Some of these expressions were quite irrelevant. But that was not always the case. The phrase secrecy and dispatch played a major role in the 1787-88 American constitutional debates; it "travelled" from translations of Polybius to Encyclopédie, and from there to Jean-Louis de Lolme's The Constitution of England, before "landing" in John Adams' pamphlet "Thoughts on Government" and in the 1780 edition of Histoire des deux Indes (1, 2, 3). The best authors knew their Greek and Roman sources well. They read each other's books. They were aware of the importance of éloquence to a degree that we find difficult to understand in 2013.

Another fascinanting expression is without tumult. Its importance derives from the fact that it describes the political culture of republicanism. Political power must be transferred peacefully —without tumult— in order for republicanism to thrive. This happened in the United States with the election of 1800 — but it was a close call. The French would not manage to achieve such a result for decades, to say nothing of the South Americans ...

Here's a tentative "history" of that phrase. My take-away: there was no such thing as a purely Italian, French, German, English, American or Spanish political culture. It was mostly an Atlantic political culture, with strong roots in the classical world.

- Livy: "... ita pedites equitibus cum leui armatura ante aciem hosti oppositis sine tumultu abducti ...", Book XLIV.33 [see].

- Plutarch (Amyot's translation) : « ... avec si peu de maulx, et sans tumulte, trouble, ne sedition quelconque ...», Vie des hommes illustres [see].

- Niccolò Machiavelli: "... gli venivano senza tumulto e senza violenza ...", Discorsi, I [see].

- James Harrington: "... the Jews could not dispute with the Christians without Tumult", Oceana, 1656, p. 338 [see].

- Histoire Universelle :  « ... un pareil changement ne pouvoit se faire sans tumulte ...», Histoire des Lacédémoniens. Amsterdam, 1743, p. 674 [see].

 - David Hume: "... a republican government ... steady and uniform, without tumult and faction" ("Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth", 1752)

- Baron d'Holbach : « ... & pour se faire entendre sans tumulte ...», REPRÉSENTANS, (Droit politiq. hist. mod.). See also: « Comme la société, surtout quand elle est nombreuse, ne pourrait que très-difficilement s'assembler, & sans tumulte faire connoitre ses intentions, elle est obligée de choisir des citoyens à qui elle accorde sa confiance ...», Système de la nature,  i.9. Londres, 1781, p. 221; « ... sans tumulte, elle [la Société] réprimeroit alors des Chefs devenus injustes ...», Politique naturelle, ou discours sur les vrais principes du gouvernement, I.ii.19, Londres, 1773, p. 114.

- Cesare Beccaria: "... un judizio non tumultuario ed interessato, ma stabile e regolare ...", Dei delitti e delle pene, 1764 [see].

- George Washington: "... a Constitutional door is open for amendments and may be adopted in a peaceable maner without tumult or disorder". Washington to Charles Carter, 14 December 1787 [see].

- Condorcet: « ... des élections libres, sans tumulte, dont la forme soit sagement combinée. », Sur les assemblées provinciales, 1788 [see].

- Friedrich Schiller: "Er fehlte darinn sehr, daß er das Volk nicht durch Repräsentanten sondern in Person entscheiden ließ, welches wegen der starken Menschenmenge nicht ohne Verwirrung und Tumult und wegen der überlegenen Anzahl der unbemittelten Bürger nicht immer ohne Bestechung abgehen konnte", Die Gesetzgebung des Lykurgus und Solon, 1789 [see] (*).

- John Adams: "... the pleasure of exchanging Presidents without tumult ...", to Abigail, 9 March 1797 [see].

- Mariano Moreno: "...el espectáculo de un pueblo que elige sin tumultos ...", Gazeta de Buenos-Ayres, June 1810.

(*) This idea comes straight from d'Holbach! See Ulrich Rommelfanger (1987): "Der Verdienst, in bemerkenswert klaren und knappen Sätzen den Zweck des Repräsentativsystems umirssen zu haben, kommt im 18. Jahrhundert Baron d'Holbach zu".
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