[clx. 430]

1822 July 29

Constitut Code

One advantage in beginning with power on the occasion of the minimization process - one reason for proceeding in this order may now be visible; the less the power you have to contend with, the more are you at ease /the greater your facility/ in such application as you have to make to the will Thus, as above: if the possessor of the power is at all events to keep his hold of it so long as he lives, or even so long as he remains legally unconvicted of a specific misdeed, the difficulty of dealing with him may be unsurmountable and by a mass of power small in extent as well as intensity, mischief /evil/ to an almost indefinite amount may be produced: for by /by means/ this mass /were it only that to one lot/ of power thus fortified /entrenched/ as in a stronghold, other indefinite in number and value may be added by him On the other hand when it is the dimension of its duration that the defalcation /knife/ is applied, no power so ample in its other two dimensions but may be conferred with comparative safety. Witness in the Roman Commonwealth the Dictatorship: a power which with exception of what was thus defalcated from it was absolute Monarchy.