We have
seen that the tendency of republican governments is to an aggrandizement
of the legislative at the expense of the other departments. The appeals
to the people, therefore, would usually be made by the executive and
judiciary departments. But whether made by one side or the other, would
each side enjoy equal advantages on the trial? Let us view their
different situations. The members of the executive and judiciary
departments are few in number, and can be personally known to a small
part only of the people. The latter, by the mode of their appointment,
as well as by the nature and permanency of it, are too far removed from
the people to share much in their prepossessions. The former are
generally the objects of jealousy, and their administration is always
liable to be discolored and rendered unpopular. The members of the
legislative department, on the other hand, are numberous. They are
distributed and dwell among the people at large. Their connections of
blood, of friendship, and of acquaintance embrace a great proportion of
the most influential part of the society. The nature of their public
trust implies a personal influence among the people, and that they are
more immediately the confidential guardians of the rights and liberties
of the people.
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