Federalist No. 79 is an essay

Essay

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

 by Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...

 and the seventy-ninth of the Federalist Papers

Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...

. It was published in a book collection on May 28, 1788, but first appeared in a newspaper, where most readers would have seen it, on June 18 of that year. It appeared under the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Publius, the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. The title is, "The Judiciary Continued", and it is the second in a series of six essays discussing the powers and limitations of the judicial branch.

Publius' argument

In Federalist No. 78

Federalist No. 78

Federalist No. 78 is an essay by Alexander Hamilton, the seventy-eighth of the Federalist Papers. Like all of the Federalist Papers, it was published under the pseudonym Publius....

, Hamilton argued that "permanence in office," as enshrined in lifelong appointments, was the most important guarantee of the independence of the judiciary. In No. 79 he states that the other main guarantee of that independence is the provision in the proposed Constitution of the United States for the financial independence of judges. Hamilton also argues that the ability of Congress to impeach judges provides protection against their misconduct despite their relative independence.

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