THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE FEDERALIST 125
Number 51, Madison.
have been entertained, that publican system on such a
the larger the society, provided scale and in such a form as will
it lie within a practical sphere, control all the evils which have
the more duly capable it will been experienced." Debates^
be of self-government." ^ p. 119.
The five numbers, 47-51, form a continuous discussion, complete in itself, of the true meaning of the maxim of the separation of the powers, its applicability to the United States, etc. Madison's right to be regarded as the author of the first two has never been disputed. The evidence that he also wrote No. 51 has been laid before the reader. It seems to me to establish the proof of his authorship as certainly as an undisputed assertion could. The evidence in the case of Nos. 49 and 50 is confirmatory. The significance of this evidence can be fairly weighed only by a comparison of it with that which has been put forward in behalf of Hamilton in J. C. Hamilton's edition of The Federalist^ pp. cx-cxv,^ and for No. 51 on p. cxiv.
The next group of essays, Nos. 52-58, take up in detail the structure of the House of Representatives as framed by the Constitution. The internal evidence in regard to the authorship of these numbers, so far as I have been able to detect it, is much less in amount. Some of it, however, is striking.
Number 52. Madison.
"The definition of the right "The right of suffrage is
of suffrage is very justly re- certainly one of the fundamen-
garded as a fundamental arti- tal articles of republican gov-
cle of republican government, ernment, and ought not to be
It was incumbent on the con- left to be regulated by the
vention, therefore, to define and Legislature." Debates, ^. 4:10,
1 Cf. Madison in Federalist, No. 10, 60.
2 It is but fair to J. C. Hamilton to remember that when he made his argu- ment in favor of Hamilton's authorship Madison's Writings had not been pub- lished. He had examined some of them in MS., but not thoroug
