mportant
of the two, especially in an elective office. Man, in public trust, will
much oftener act in such a manner as to render him unworthy of being any
longer trusted, than in such a manner as to make him obnoxious to
legal punishment. But the multiplication of the Executive adds to the
difficulty of detection in either case. It often becomes impossible,
amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the blame or the
punishment of a pernicious measure, or series of pernicious measures,
ought really to fall. It is shifted from one to another with so much
dexterity, and under such plausible appearances, that the public opinion
is left in suspense about the real author. The circumstances which may
have led to any national miscarriage or misfortune are sometimes so
complicated that, where there are a number of actors who may have had
different degrees and kinds of agency, though we may clearly see upon
the whole that there has been mismanagement, yet it may be impracticable
to pronounce to whose account the evil which may have been incurred is
truly chargeable.)(E1)

(But one of the weightiest objections to a plurality in the Executive,
and which lies as much against the last as the first plan, is, that it
tends to conceal faults and destroy responsibility.

Responsibility is of two kinds--to censure and to punishment. The first
is the more important of the two, especially in an elective office. Man,
in public trust, will much oftener act in such a manner as to render him
unworthy of being any longer trusted, than in such a manner as to
make him obnoxious to legal punishment. But the multiplication of the
Executive adds to the difficulty of detection in either case. It often
becomes impossible, amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the
blame or the punishment of a pernicious measure, or series of pernicious
measures, ought really to fall. It is shifted from one to another with
so much dexterity, and under such plausible appearances, that the public
opinion is left in suspense about the real author. The circumstances
which may have led to any national miscarriage or misfortune are
sometimes so complicated that, where there are a number of actors
who may have had different degrees and kinds of agency, though we may
clearly see upon the whole that there has been mismanagement, yet it may
be impracticable to pronounce to whose account the evil which may have
been incurred is truly chargeable.)(E1)

"I was overr