Editor:

In 1787, Alexander Fraser Tytler, a Scottish lawyer, wrote his view of democracy. The earliest confirmed use was by Henning Webb Prentis, Jr., in 1943. Work by Tytler (possibly Alexander Tyler) cannot be found so it appears to be original to Prentis. Known as the Fatal Sequence, this historical cycle is: “From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to apathy; from apathy to dependency; and from dependency back to bondage once more.”