7096. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Acquirement of.—[continued].
In a government like ours, it is the duty of the Chief Magistrate,
in order to enable himself to do all the good
which his station requires, to endeavor, by all
honorable means, to unite in himself the confidence
of the whole people. This alone, in any
case where the energy of the nation is required,
can produce a union of the powers of the
whole, and point them in a single direction,
as if all constituted but one body and one
mind; and this alone can render a weaker
nation unconquerable by a stronger one. Towards
acquiring the confidence of the people,
the very first measure is to satisfy them of his
disinterestedness, and that he is directing
their affairs with a single eye to their good,
and not to build up fortunes for himself and
family.—
To J. Garland Jefferson. Washington ed. v, 498.
Ford ed., ix, 270.
(M.
1810)
