It is,
however, consolatory to reflect that _most_ of the instances of
alleged departure from the letter or spirit of the Constitution have
ultimately received the sanction of a majority of the people. And the
fact that many of our statesmen most distinguished for talent and
patriotism have been at one time or other of their political career on
both sides of each of the most warmly disputed questions forces upon us
the inference that the errors, if errors there were, are attributable to
the intrinsic difficulty in many instances of ascertaining the
intentions of the framers of the Constitution rather than the influence
of any sinister or unpatriotic motive. But the great danger to our
institutions does not appear to me to be in a usurpation by the
Government of power not granted by the people, but by the accumulation
in one of the departments of that which was assigned to others. Limited
as are the powers which have been granted, still enough have been
granted to constitute a despotism if concentrated in one of the
departments. This danger is greatly heightened, as it has been always
observable that men are less jealous of encroachments of one department
upon another than upon their own reserved rights.
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