Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 943 |
| AUTHOR: | Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) |
| QUOTATION: | The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric…. A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone, is a good thing; but independence of the will of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican government. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | A similar statement is made in Jefferson’s “Autobiography,” Writings, vol. 1, pp. 112–13 (1892). |
| SUBJECTS: | Judiciary |