John Rutledge; as was repeatedly conferred by the
legislature of Virginia upon Governor Patrick Henry; and afterward, in
still higher degree, by the same legislature, on Governor Thomas
Jefferson himself. Nevertheless, so loose was the meaning then
attached to the word "dictator," that it was not uncommon for men to
speak of these very cases as examples of the bestowment of a
dictatorship, and of the exercise of dictatorial power; although, in
every one of the cases mentioned, there was lacking the essential
feature of a true dictatorship, namely, the grant of unlimited power
to one man. It is perfectly obvious, likewise, that when, in those
days, men spoke thus of a dictatorship, and of dictatorial power, they
attached no suggestion of political guilt either to the persons who
bestowed such power, or to the persons who severally accepted it,--the
tacit understanding being that, in every instance, the public danger
required and justified some grant of extraordinary power; that no more
power was granted than was necessary; and that the man to whom, in any
case, the grant was made, was a man to whom, there was good reason to
believe, the grant could be made with safety. Obviously, it was upon
this tacit understanding of its meaning that the word was used, for
instance, by Edmund Randolph, in 1788, in the Virginia Constitutional
Convention, when, alluding to the extraordinary power bestowed by
Congress on Washington, he said: "We had an American dictator in
1781." Surely, Randolph did not mean to impute political crime, either
to the Congress which made Washington a dictator, or to Washington
himself who consented to be made one. It was upon the same tacit
understanding, also, that Patrick Henry, in reply to Randolph, took up
the word, and extolled the grant of dictatorial power to Washington on
the occasion referred to: "In making a dictator," said Henry, "we
followed the example of the most glorious, magnanimous, and skilful
nations. In great dangers, this power has been given. Rome has
furnished us with an illustrious example. America found a person for
that trust: she looked to Virginia for him. We gave a dictatorial
power to hands that used it gloriously, and which were rendered more
glorious by surrendering it up."[274]

Thus it is apparent that the word "dictator" was frequently used in
those times in a sense perfectly innocent. As all men know, however,
the word is one capable of suggesting the possibilities of dr