The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-09-04

10 the character OF that state and scan
| iaious libel upon others
But with what face Of justice can n. York
Especially, complain of an unequal Slistribu
ton of federal officers Upon fair re,i
1t will be seen that SO far from having been
overlooked. she has been literally dealt
with. We never hear" the committee tell
US, c OF South Carolina or Pennsyiva
mia Influence" Nor do we hear orrrn-
ous refining H. those states, tho Others
Indulge in i, with infinitely less cause, and
With an i'll grace indeed. With the sin
gle exception of the presidency. there is
scarcely an Office of honor or emoium .nt
which has not been conferred upon her. Du-
ring the short period that has elapsed since
the formation of our government, from that
state aione. have been chosen a. two vice
presidents, u secretary of the treasury, (e) a
chet justice ID & foreign ambassadors.(g)
III clamor must be raised to crafty frivolous
complaint, Of AN imaginary local favoritism,
New York should not in i.elicacy be the first
to commence it. Ii integrity and talents
must be prescribed in Virginia. New York
IS the last state in the union entitled to reap
| the benefit Of this new order OF things.
liiusive then as are all arguments deduced
from the pretended existence of Il Yir,iniQ
Influence" & unfounled in JUST as are all
/" qncrH!ous rehinings" upon this head. at
least IN regard TO New-York the commit
tee chanSe their position and take a boltler
ground Not perhaps directly and openly,
bat by implication aud inference too clear to
be overlooked. II their On opinion, the
trainers OF our constitution would have af-
torded greater evidence of their foresight &
wisdom, had the principle of rot alton among
the states. IN the presidential Office, IN some
proPortion to their fiOhsiiahion and imhor-
ianee, been engrafted upon that instrument
han ~ II
say they, kave occasion 10 aNude to jealous
les, TIE existence Of (Which, IL is in vain to
deny, Ao7oeper deeply they may be- lament
ed, u@ SradugHy undermining the ha5ifuat
attachment Of many for our confederation
We 7oiN abstain from enguirin2 inlo fhei,
Justice, The policy of avoiding such an
enquiry is obvious /: it must produce conse-
quences unfavorable to their designs. But
Is it ingenious On the part of great state to
avail herself of unfoundcd jcalousies against
ID sister state, without condescending to EN- :,
quire into their justice Dazzled by the
brilliant object in view, is she resolved to at
tain 1t, tho she trample upon justice & truth
! in her careerf Forbid it honor.
But the constitution is better than the
learned committee could have made it, and
perhaps in no part less defective, than in
that they would propose to remedy. Sup
pose 1t to have contained the provision sug-
gested What absurd and dangerous con-
sequences, might have resulted? If at IL
former election New-York must have fur
nished a president-an honor which she
greatly desired, and nearly attained Aaron
Burr would have assembled the chair. If the
approaching selection of a chief magistrate
depended upon the will of Massachusetts,
she might probably present us with Timothy
Pickering, the hero of Lexington. At some
particular period, among the smaller states
especially. it might happen that no imdividu-
| al could be found, uniting i'm himself the con-
fdence or the people and the requisite ca
pacity. -
How can the addresscrs. without the gros-
est inconsistency, contend for this principle
| OF rotation, thus narrowing down the right
of the people in the choice of this important
| officer, when they themselves urge as their
strongest argument in support of Estate
| nominations" that they extend the sphere,
and enlarge the opportunities of a iudicious
selection In short, this feature of the
| constitution, which is made the theme of
criticism, more conclusively perhaps than
any other demonstrates the wisdom and
foresight" of its trainers. 2hev would not
stoop to legislate with reference to petty To-
cal Jcalonsies. Upon this truly important
occasion, they deemed it right to afford
wide range for the exercise OF the Judgment,
| bounded only by the horizon of our country !;
| to present to our view. the whole political
| armament, that from the constellation OF
patriots and statesmen, a star might be Sc
lected the most conspicuous for the magni
tude of its orb, or the splendor of its beams.
PELOPIDAS.
(a) Page 16.-(c) Page 14s-C6) Page
10 = .daron Burr ana George Clinton.
-(e) Aierander HamHton.-(f) John
Jay.-(g) Johm Jay, Gopeyneu1. Morris,
Rufus King 81 John Armstrong.-Ch
Page Is.