University of Virginia Library

4173. JUDGES, Superfluous.—[continued].

I should greatly prefer * * * four judges to any greater number.
Great lawyers are not over abundant,
and the multiplication of judges only enables
the weak to out-vote the wise, and three concurrent
opinions out of four give a strong
presumption of right.—
To William Johnson. Washington ed. vii, 278. Ford ed., x, 249.
(M. 1823)