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In the next place, it is the direct visible representative of the will
of the people in all the changes of times and circumstances. It has the
pride as well as the power of numbers. It is easily moved and steadily
moved by the strong impulses of popular feeling and popular odium. It
obeys without reluctance the wishes and the will of the majority for the
time being. The path to public favor lies open by such obedience, and it
finds not only support but impunity in whatever measures the majority
advises, even though they transcend the constitutional limits. It has no
motive, therefore, to be jealous or scrupulous in its own use of power;
and it finds its ambition stimulated and its arm strengthened by the
countenance and the courage of numbers. These views are not alone those
of men who look with apprehension upon the fate of republics, but they
are also freely admitted by some of the strongest advocates for popular
rights and the permanency of republican institutions.


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