e to abuse, and
more dangerous when abused, than if it be lodged in the hands of one
man; who, from the very circumstance of his being alone, will be more
narrowly watched and more readily suspected, and who cannot unite so
great a mass of influence as when he is associated with others. The
Decemvirs of Rome, whose name denotes their number,(3) were more to be
dreaded in their usurpation than any ONE of them would have been. No
person would think of proposing an Executive much more numerous than
that body; from six to a dozen have been suggested for the number of
the council. The extreme of these numbers, is not too great for an easy
combination; and from such a combination America would have more to
fear, than from the ambition of any single individual. A council to a
magistrate, who is himself responsible for what he does, are generally
nothing better than a clog upon his good intentions, are often the
instruments and accomplices of his bad and are almost always a cloak to
his faults.

I forbear to dwell upon the subject of expense; though it be evident
that if the council should be numerous enough to answer the principal
end aimed at by the institution, the salaries of the members, who must
be drawn from their homes to reside at the seat of government, would
form an item in the catalogue of public expenditures too serious to be
incurred for an object of equivocal utility. I will only add that, prior
to the appearance of the Constitution, I rarely met with an intelligent
man from any of the States, who did not admit, as the result of
experience, that the UNITY of the executive of this State was one of the
best of the distinguishing features of our constitution.

PUBLIUS

1. New York has no council except for the single purpose of appointing
to offices; New Jersey has a council whom the governor may consult. But
I think, from the terms of the constitution, their resolutions do not
bind him.

2. De Lolme.

3. Ten.

E1. Two versions of these paragraphs appear in different editions.

FEDERALIST No. 71

The Duration in Office of the Executive

From the New York Packet. Tuesday, March 18, 1788.

HAMILTON

To the People of the State of New York:

DURATION in office has been mentioned as the second requisite to the
energy of the Executive authority. This has relation to two objects: to
the personal firmness of the executive magistrate, in the employment
of his constitutional powers; and to the stability