Page:The Supreme Court in United States History vol 1.djvu/205

pretensions we knew were in every respect the best, and who would have been the most acceptable to the country. Painful as it would be for the Senate to reject a man of such respectable talents and standing as Mr. Marshall unquestionably is, I am convinced, nevertheless, that they would do it, if they could be assured that thereby you would be called to fill it, and he brought upon the Bench as a Junior Judge"; and he continued by saying that Mr. Adams^ whole conduct and nominations had manifested "such debility or derangement of intellect" as to convince the Federalists that another four years of his Administration would expose them to destruction. Eight days later, Dayton wrote that, on his motion, the Senate had postponed action, in order to ascertain "whether the President could be induced under any circumstances whatever to nominate you. If we could have been satisfied of this, we should have taken measures to prevail on Mr. Marshall to have, himself, declined the highest for a lower seat upon the Bench, or, in case of his refusal, have negatived him. This would have been a course of proceeding painful indeed to the Federalists on account of their esteem for that gentleman and their respect for his talents, and to which nothing could have brought them, but their very strong attachment for you and their very high sense of your superior title and pretensions. It must be gratifying to you to learn that all voices were united in favor of conferring this appointment upon you. The President alone was inflexible and declared that he would never nominate you. Under these circumstances, we thought it advisable to confirm Mr. Marshall, lest another not so well qualified and more disgusting to the Bench should be substituted, and because it appeared that this gentleman was not privy to his own