The Federalist Papers · Federalist No. 68 · paragraph 4

It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.

Publius · Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison · 1787–1788
Project Gutenberg #18, updated 11 October 2025; its author-attribution labels and source notes are retained. The supplied file does not identify one uniform underlying print edition.
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.