The extension of judicial power in the political world ought therefore to be in the exact ratio of the extension of elective offices: if these two institutions do not go hand in hand, the State must fall into anarchy or into subjection.
It has always been remarked that habits of legal business do not render men apt to the exercise of administrative authority.

The Americans have borrowed from the English, their fathers, the idea of an institution which is unknown upon the continent of Europe: I allude to that of the Justices of the Peace.

The Justice of the Peace is a sort of mezzo termine between the magistrate and the man of the world, between the civil officer and the judge.

A justice of the peace is a well-informed citizen, though he is not necessarily versed in the knowledge of the laws.

His office simply obliges him to execute the police regulations of society; a task in which good sense and integrity are of more avail than legal science.