_On the Federal Government, and first on the safety of the people,
from the restraints imposed on the President._
It is impossible for an honest and feeling mind, of any nation or
country whatever, to be insensible to the present circumstances of
America. Were I an East Indian, or a Turk, I should consider this
singular situation of a part of my fellow creatures as the most curious
and interesting. Intimately connected with the country, as a citizen of
the union, I confess it entirely engrosses my mind and feelings.
To take a proper view of the ground on which we stand, it may be
necessary to recollect the manner in which the United States were
originally settled and [4] established. Want of charity in the
religious systems of Europe, and of justice in their political
governments, were the principal moving causes, which drove the
emigrants of various countries to the American continent. The
Congregationalists, Quakers, Presbyterians and other British
dissenters, the Catholics of England and Ireland, the Hugonots of
France, the German Lutherans, Calvinists and Moravians, with several
other societies, established themselves in the different colonies,
thereby laying the ground of that liberality in ecclesiastical affairs,
which has been observable since the late revolution. Religious
liberty naturally promotes corresponding dispositions in matters of
government. The constitution of England as it stood on paper, was one
of the freest, at that time, in the world, and the American colonies
considered themselves as entitled to the fullest enjoyment of it.
Thus, when the ill-judged discussions of late times in England brought
into question the rights of this country, as it stood connected with
the British crown, we were found more strongly impressed with their
importance, and accurately acquainted with their extent, than the
wisest and most learned of our brethren beyond the Atlantic. When
the greatest names in parliament insisted on the power of that body
over the commerce of the colonies, and even the right to bind us in
all cases whatsoever, America, seeing that it was only another form
of tyranny, insisted upon the immutable truth, that taxation and
representation are inseparable; and, while a desire of harmony and
other considerations induced her into an acquiescence in the commercial
relations of Great Britain, it was done from the declared necessity
of the case, and with a cautious, full, and absolute saving of our
voluntarily-suspended rights. The parliament was persevering, and
America continued firm, till hostilities and open war commenced, and
finally the late revolution closed the contest forever.
[5] It is evident, from this short detail, and the reflections which
arise from it, that the quarrel between the United States and the
parliament of Great Britain did not arise so much from objections to
the form of government, though undoubtedly a better one by far is now
within our reach, as from a difference concerning certain important
rights, resulting from the essential principles of liberty, which their
constitution actually preserved to all the subjects residing within the
realm. It was not asserted by America, that the people of the island of
Great Britain were slaves, but that we, though possessed absolutely of
the same rights, were not admitted to enjoy an equal degree of freedom.
When the declaration of independence compleated the separation between
the two countries, new governments were necessarily established.
Many circumstances led to the adoption of the republican form, among
which was the predilection of the people. In devising the frames of
government, it may have been difficult to avoid extremes opposite to
the vices of that we had just rejected; nevertheless, many of the state
constitutions we have chosen are truly excellent. Our misfortunes have
been, that in the first instance we adopted no national government at
all; but were kept together by common danger only; and that in the
confusions of a civil war, we framed a fœderal constitution, now
universally admitted to be inadequate to the preservation of liberty,
property, and the union. The question is not, then, how far our state
constitutions are good, or otherwise—the object of our wishes is,
to amend and supply the evident and allowed errors and defects of
the fœderal government. Let us consider awhile, that which is now
proposed to us—let us compare it with the so much boasted British form
of government, and see how much more it favours the people, and how
completely it secures their rights, remembering, at the same time, that
we did not dissolve our connection [6] with that country so much on
account of its constitution, as the perversion and mal-administration
of it.
In the first place, let us look at the nature and powers of the head of
that country, and those of the ostensible head of ours.
The British king is the great bishop or supreme head of an established
church, with an immense patronage annexed. In this capacity he commands
a number of votes in the house of lords, by creating bishops, who,
besides their great incomes, have votes in that assembly, and are
judges in the last resort. These prelates have also many honorable
and lucrative places to bestow, and thus from their wealth, learning,
dignities, powers, and patronage, give a great lustre and an enormous
influence to the crown.
In America, our president will not only be without these influencing
advantages, but they will be in the possession of the people at large,
to strengthen their hands in the event of a contest with him. All
religious funds, honors and powers, are in the gift of numberless
unconnected, disunited and contending corporations, wherein the
principle of perfect equality universally prevails. In short, danger
from ecclesiastical tyranny, that long standing and still remaining
curse of the people—that sacreligious engine of royal power in some
countries—can be feared by no man in the United States. In Britain
their king is for life—in America, our President will always be one
of the people at the end of four years. In that country, the king is
hereditary, and may be an idiot, a knave, or a tyrant by nature, or
ignorant from neglect of his education, yet cannot be removed, for “he
can do no wrong.” This is a favorite maxim of their constitution. In
America, as the President is to be one of the people at the end of
his short term, so will he and his fellow citizens remember, that he
was originally one of the people; and he is created by their breath.
Further, he cannot be [7] an idiot, probably not a knave or tyrant, for
those whom nature makes so discover it before the age of thirty-five,
until which period he cannot be elected. It appears, we have not
admitted that he can do no wrong, but have rather pre-supposed he may,
and sometimes will do wrong, by providing for his impeachment, his
trial, and his peaceable and complete removal.
In England the king has a power to create members of the upper
house, who are judges in the highest court, as well as legislators.
Our President not only cannot make members of the Senate, but
their creation, like his own, is by the people, through their
representatives: and a member of Assembly may and will be as certainly
dismissed at the end of his year, for electing a weak or wicked
Senator, as for any other blunder or misconduct.
The king of England has complete legislative power, while our President
can only use it when the other servants of the people are divided. But
in all great cases affecting the national interests or safety, his
modified and restrained power must give way to the sense of two-thirds
of the legislature. In fact it amounts to no more, than a serious duty
imposed upon him to request both houses to reconsider any matter on
which he entertains doubts or feels apprehensions; and here the people
have a strong hold upon him from his sole and personal responsibility.
The President of the upper-house (or the chancellor) in England, is
appointed by their king, while our Vice-President, who is chosen by the
people, through the electors and the Senate, is not at all dependant
on the President, but may exercise equal powers on some occasions. In
all royal governments, an helpless infant or an inexperienced youth
may wear the crown. Our President must be matured by the experience of
years, and being born among us, his character at thirty-five must be
fully understood. Wisdom, virtue and [8]active qualities of mind and
body can alone make him the first servant of a free and enlightened
people.
Our President will fall very much short indeed of any prince in his
annual income, which will not be hereditary, but the absolute allowance
of the people, passing through the hands of their other servants
from year to year, as it becomes necessary. There will be no burdens
on the nation, to provide for his heir, or other branches of his
family. It is probable, from the state of property in America, and
other circumstances, that many citizens will exceed him in show and
expense,—those dazzling trappings of kingly rank and power. He will
have no authority to make a treaty, without two-thirds of the senate,
nor can he appoint ambassadors or other great officers without their
approbation, which will remove the idea of patronage and influence,
and of personal obligation and dependence. The appointment of even the
inferior officers may be taken out of his hands by an act of congress
at any time; he can create no nobility or titles of honor, nor take
away offices during good behaviour. His person is not so much protected
as that of a member of the house of representatives; for he may be
proceeded against like any other man in the ordinary course of law. He
appoints no officer of the separate states. He will have no influence
from placemen in the legislature, nor can he prorogue or dissolve it.
He will have no power over the treasures of the state; and, lastly, as
he is created through the electors, by the people at large, he must
ever look up to the support of his creators. From such a servant, with
powers so limited and transitory, there can be no danger, especially
when we consider the solid foundations on which our national liberties
are immoveably fixed, by the other provisions of this excellent
constitution. Whatever of dignity or authority he possesses, is a
delegated part of their majesty and their political omnipotence,
transiently vested in him by the people themselves, for their own
happiness.
[9] NUMBER II.
_On the safety of the people, from the restraints imposed upon the
Senate._
We have seen that the late honorable convention, in designating the
nature of the chief executive office of the United States, having
deprived it of all the dangerous appendages of royalty, and provided
for the frequent expiration of its limited powers—As our president
bears no resemblance to a king, so we shall see the senate have no
similitude to nobles.
First, then, not being hereditary, their collective knowledge, wisdom,
and virtue are not precarious, for by these qualities alone they are to
obtain their offices; and they will have none of the peculiar follies
and vices of those men, who possess power merely because their fathers
held it before them, for they will be educated (under equal advantages,
and with equal prospects) among and on a footing with the other sons
of a free people. If we recollect the characters, who have, at various
periods, filled the seats of congress, we shall find this expectation
perfectly reasonable. Many young men of genius, and many characters of
more matured abilities without fortunes, have been honored with that
trust. Wealth has had but few representatives there, and those have
been generally possessed of respectable personal qualifications. There
have also been many instances of persons not eminently endowed with
mental qualities, who have been sent thither from a reliance on their
virtues, public and private—As the senators are still to be elected by
the legislatures of the states, there can be no doubt of equal safety
and propriety in their future appointment, especially as no further
pecuniary qualification is required by the constitution.
[10] They can hold no other office civil or military under the United
States, nor can they join in making provision for themselves, either
by creating new places, or encreasing the emoluments of old ones. As
their sons are not to succeed them, they will not be induced to aim
at an increase or perpetuity of their powers, at the expence of the
liberties of the people, of which those sons will be a part. They
possess a much smaller share of the judicial power than the upper house
in Britain, for they are not, as there, the highest court in civil
affairs. Impeachments alone are the cases cognizable before them, and
in what other place could matters of that nature be so properly and
safely determined? The judges of the fæderal courts will owe their
appointments to the president and senate, therefore may not feel so
perfectly free from favour, affection and influence, as the upper
house who receive the power from the people, through their state
representatives, and are immediately responsible to those assemblies,
and finally to the nation at large—Thus we see, when a daring or
dangerous offender is brought to the bar of public justice, the
people, who alone can impeach him by their immediate representatives,
will cause him to be tried, not by judges appointed in the heat of
the occasion, but by two-thirds of a select body, chosen a long time
before, for various purposes, by the collective wisdom of their State
legislatures. From a pretence or affectation of extraordinary purity
and excellence of character, their word of honour is the sanction
under which these high courts, in other countries, have given their
sentence—But with us, like the other judges of the union, like the
rest of the people, of which they are never to forget they are a part,
it is required that they be on oath.
No ambitious, undeserving or inexperienced youth can acquire a seat
in this house by means of the most enormous wealth, or most powerful
connections, till [11] thirty years have ripened his abilities, and
fully discovered his merits to his country—a more rational ground of
preference surely than mere property.
The senate, though more independent of the people, as to the
free exercise of their judgment and abilities, than the house of
representatives, by the longer term of their office, must be older and
more experienced men, and are vested with less effective power; for
the public treasures, the sinews of the state, cannot be called forth
by their original motion. They may indeed restrain the profusion or
errors of the house of representatives, but they cannot take any of
the necessary measures to raise a national revenue.
The people, through the electors, prescribe them such a president as
shall be best qualified to controul them.
They can only, by conviction or impeachment, remove and incapacitate
a dangerous officer, but the punishment of him as a criminal remains
within the province of the courts of law, to be conducted under all
the ordinary forms and precautions, which exceedingly diminishes the
importance of their judicial powers. They are detached, as much as
possible, from local prejudices in favor of their respective states,
by having a separate and independent vote, for the sensible and
conscientious use of which every member will find his person, honor and
character seriously bound—He cannot shelter himself, under a vote in
behalf of his state, among his immediate colleagues.
As there are only two, he cannot be voluntarily or involuntarily
governed by the majority of the deputation—He will be obliged, by
wholesome provisions, to attend his public duty, and thus in great
national questions must give a vote, of the honesty of which he will
find it is necessary to convince his constituents.
The senate must always receive the exceptions of the president against
any of their legislative acts, which, without [12] serious deliberation
and sufficient reasons, they will seldom disregard. They will also
feel a considerable check from the constitutional powers of the state
legislatures, whose rights they will not be disposed to infringe, since
they are the bodies to which they owe their existence, and are moreover
to remain the immediate guardians of the people.
And lastly, the Senate will feel the mighty check of the House of
Representatives—a body so truly popular and pure in its election, so
intimately connected, by its interests and feelings, with the people at
large, so guarded against corruption and influence—so much, from its
nature, above all apprehensions, that it must ever be able to maintain
the high ground assigned to it by the fæderal constitution.