Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1805-08-30
FRs1 The BALrIMoRE REpuBLIeAN, OR
Anti. DEMOCRAT.
ESSAY


the highest authorities, among the moderns
and ancients, that right in tbs people &c
assemble collectively and enact. ha1Os, IS Of tht
essence of democracy.
TY1r. Walker, in his Critical Pronouncing
Dictionary, TIE authority gustsd in the
-4srara,) deGnes democracy, " one OF the
three forms of government, that 10 which
the sovereign p0sver IS lodged IN the 60dy q
The peQpe.
Democracy, In Johnson's Dictionary, is
de6a-d-" One of the three forms of go.
yernment--that in which the sovereign
& borvsr is neither lodged in one man, nor
in the mobiles, but in the collective 69dy Of
the people,
The Dictionaire Philosophique defines
democracy, g a species of government, in
which the legissiue bo1uer IS exercised BY
the peoples"
In the French Encyclopedia. democracy
is deaacd, 6 One of the simple forms OF
goverament, in which the people in a body
,p5ssess the sovereign 1bozOer. Every repub-
lie where the sovereignty resides IN the
people is democracy"
shall now produce authorities to ascer-
tain what is here meant by sovereign b01v-
'er.
Montesquieu observes 60 "When the
5ody Of the people in republic, are pos
sessed of tbs supreme p0Ver, this is called
a democracy" Libanius says that !" at
Athens, a stranger who insermeddled in
the assemblies of ths feapls was punished
with DEATH" this was { Montesqieu re-
marks) because such man usurped the
rights of sovereignty. (s) Hence the So
vercign power is in the people assembled,
not in the people individually.
The French Encyclopedias, under the
article democracy, above quoted, as if to
remove any cavil which might be raised,
observes, 6 Before we proceed further, it
is necess3rvto remark, that in a democracy
each citizen does not possess the sovereign
bszvet, nor even part Of it.; this pc7cer
resides in the general assembly Of the PEG
PIE"
Again Mr.. Hume in his third Essay,
saws /" the constitution of the Roman re.
public gave the zVh9Le Legislative lboOer to
the people, without allowing negative
voice either to the nobility or consuls.
This unbounded power they possessed, in
collective, not in a representative body
Thus we see, according TO these de6ai-
tons and illustrations, that, in democra.
cv, the sovereign power is in the people
collectively or assembled to enact iazvs, and
not in part, or in the people Individually.
Hence it follows, that, the essence of de-
mocracy, consists in powerto enact laws
being lodged IN the body of the people, or
in the people collectively.
In further proof of this point, | shall
content myself forthe present, with few
authorities chiefly drawn from the anci.
ents.
Of the authorities derived from the an
clients. they will be principally those which
are relied upon by the Able Barthelemy
in his celebrated work, the Travels of Ana
charsis, the younger, in Greece; more
particularly those which he quotes In hi:
chapter &c of the nature of government
according to Aristotle and other phloso
phers;" aud his chapter of S the presen
government of Athens"
Il right y'1 the people, collectively, to en-
act tas0s, aid try offences committed aga;ns
the hazOs Of the state, is the essence Of de
m9cracy. This is the position to be far
Their illustrated
1t may not perhaps be improper, in Chi
place, to remark, that it is not meant tx
convey an idea, that the will of the people
In the enaet;ng laws, in democracy, is ex
pressed 10 one way only, or in an assembl!
where all are collected this will may b.
ascsrtaiaed by taking the votes ofshe PEG
pie seriatim, or successfully, in small col
lections, or tribes, as was sometimes prac
tised in Athens and other cities in Greece