The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton [347]
p. 418. The British monarch mayprorogueor even dissolve the Parliament: "Prorogue" is a verb meaning to defer or to postpone. With reference to British government, "prorogue Parliament" is to adjourn the body to a specific day by prerogative authority of the crown.
p. 418n. Vide Blackstone’s Commentaries, Vol. I. page 257: Publius refers to the following passage:
It is also the king’s prerogative to make treaties, leagues, and alliances with foreign states and princes. For it is by the law of nations essential to the goodness of a league, that it be made by the sovereign power; and then it is binding upon the whole community: and in England the sovereign power, quod hoc, is vested in the person of the king. Whatever contracts therefore he engages in, no other power in the kingdom can legally delay, resist or annul.
Federalist 70
p. 422. a single man, under the formidable title ofdictator…: Dictator was the title of a supreme magistrate in ancient Rome, used at first only in military emergencies, but later also in domestic crises. Upon authorization by the Senate, any of the normal magistrates possessed of ruling authority (e.g. consul, praetor) could nominate a dictator, whose office concentrated the powers of the two consuls and whose authority usually extended to the performance of a specific task. Originally, the dictator resigned as soon as he completed the task for which he was appointed, but by the time Caesar was appointed dictator in perpetuity (44 BC), the original purpose of the office had been entirely subverted.
p. 423. the twoconsuls of Romemay serve as an example…: Consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates of Rome during the period of the republic. Two consuls were elected annually by the centuriate assembly, which could be summoned for that purpose by a consul, dictator, interrex, or military tribune. The consulship as an institution arose immediately after the expulsion of the last king, and the consuls retained most of the powers traditionally associated with the monarchy: the authority of military command and the right of summoning the senate and people. Traditionally, the principles of collegiality (the dual consulship) and limited tenure were understood as sureties against tyranny. At first the office was restricted to members of the patrician class, but by the mid-fourth century BC plebeians were also eligible. Under the empire, the title consular imperium adhered to the emperor himself, although the independent office as well as the prestige of the consul survived.
p. 423. the Achaeans, on an experiment of twoPraetors, were induced to abolish one: Praetor—literally, "one who goes before"—is a Latin term designating various primary or secondary governmental officials including the chief magistrates of the Achaean League and, originally, of the Roman republic. At a later date in the history of the Roman republic, the chief magistrates were called "consuls" (i.e., colleagues) and the praetors were secondary officials whose responsibilities included the administration of civil justice and the publication of edicts, or principles for the handling of cases not covered by existing law or custom.
p. 428. I clearly concur in opinion…with awriter…: the reference is to Jean Louis De Lolme (1740–1806), a Swiss lawyer and author known primarily for his work The Constitution of England (1771). An admirer of the English regime, Lolme exerted a profound influence on the Founding Fathers, inspiring particularly their advocacy of a strong, unitary executive. The "opinion" with which Publius concurs is found in Book II, chapter 2, of Lolme’s The Constitution of England (London, 1796), p. 215.
p. 428. whom the celebratedJuniuspronounces to be "deep, solid, and ingenious"…: Junius was the pseudonym of a writer of sixty-nine letters published in the Public Advertiser, a London newspaper, between 1769 and 1772. The author, whose identity