John Adams wrote A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765: "The desire of dominion ... when ... restraints are taken off ... becomes an encroaching, grasping, restless, and ungovernable power ... contrived by the great for the gratification of this passion ... Originally formed ... for the necessary defense ... against ... invasions ... yet ... tyranny, cruelty, and lust ... was soon adopted by almost all the princes of Europe ... The people were held in ignorance ... till God in his benign providence raised up the champions who began and conducted the Reformation. From the time...