It rarely happens that an individual can at once collect the majority of the suffrages of a great people; and this difficulty is enhanced in a republic of confederate States, where local influences are apt to preponderate.

The means by which it was proposed to obviate this second obstacle was to delegate the electoral powers of the nation to a body of representatives.

This mode of election rendered a majority more probable; for the fewer the electors are, the greater is the chance of their coming to a final decision.

It also offered an additional probability of a judicious choice.

It then remained to be decided whether this right of election was to be entrusted to a legislative body, the habitual representative assembly of the nation, or whether an electoral assembly should be formed for the express purpose of proceeding to the nomination of a President.