He might, then, hazard with safety, in
proportion to the proofs he had given of his wisdom and integrity, and
to the title he had acquired to the respect and attachment of his
fellow-citizens. As, on the one hand, a duration of four years will
contribute to the firmness of the Executive in a sufficient degree to
render it a very valuable ingredient in the composition; so, on the
other, it is not enough to justify any alarm for the public liberty. If
a British House of Commons, from the most feeble beginnings, FROM THE
MERE POWER OF ASSENTING OR DISAGREEING TO THE IMPOSITION OF A NEW TAX,
have, by rapid strides, reduced the prerogatives of the crown and the
privileges of the nobility within the limits they conceived to be
compatible with the principles of a free government, while they raised
themselves to the rank and consequence of a coequal branch of the
legislature; if they have been able, in one instance, to abolish both
the royalty and the aristocracy, and to overturn all the ancient
establishments, as well in the Church as State; if they have been able,
on a recent occasion, to make the monarch tremble at the prospect of an
innovation[1] attempted by them, what would be to be feared from an
elective magistrate of four years' duration, with the confined
authorities of a President of the United States? What, but that he might
be unequal to the task which the Constitution assigns him? I shall only
add, that if his duration be such as to leave a doubt of his firmness,
that doubt is inconsistent with a jealousy of his encroachments.
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