So that in reading the debates
of the Massachusetts convention, you must give this last meaning to the
word excise.
Rotation is the change of officers required by the laws at certain
epochs, and in a certain order: thus, in Virginia, our justices of the
peace are made sheriffs one after the other, each remaining in office
two years, and then yielding it to his next brother in order of
seniority. This is the just and classical meaning of the word. But in
America we have extended it (for want of a proper word) to all cases of
officers who must be necessarily changed at a fixed epoch, though the
successor be not pointed out in any particular order, but comes in
by free election. By the term rotation in office, then, we mean an
obligation on the holder of that office to go out at a certain period.
In our first Confederation, the principle of rotation was established
in the office of President of Congress, who could serve but one year in
three, and in that of a member of Congress, who could serve but three
years in six.
I believe all the countries in Europe determine their standard of money,
in gold as well as silver.
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