probation, even when those noble qualities are
employed against my own pretensions. The gentleman who is not so
fortunate as I have been in this contest enjoys, in this respect, a
consolation full of honor both to himself and to his friends. They have
certainly left nothing undone for his service.

As for the trifling petulance which the rage of party stirs up in little
minds, though it should show itself even in this court, it has not made
the slightest impression on me. The highest flight of such clamorous
birds is winged in an inferior region of the air. We hear them, and we
look upon them, just as you, Gentlemen, when you enjoy the serene air on
your lofty rocks, look down upon the gulls that skim the mud of your
river, when it is exhausted of its tide.

I am sorry I cannot conclude without saying a word on a topic touched
upon by my worthy colleague. I wish that topic had been passed by at a
time when I have so little leisure to discuss it. But since he has
thought proper to throw it out, I owe you a clear explanation of my poor
sentiments on that subject.

He tells you that "the topic of instructions has occasioned much
altercation and uneasiness in this city"; and he expresses himself (if I
understand him rightly) in favor of the coercive authority of such
instructions.

Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a
representative to live in the strictest union, the closest
correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his
constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their
opinions high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his
duty to sacrifice his repose, his _pleasure_, _his satisfactions_, _to
theirs_,--and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their
interest to his own.

But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened
conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set
of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure,--no, nor
from the law and the Constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for
the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes
you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of
serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

My worthy colleague says, his will ought to be subservient to yours. If
that be all, the thing is innocent. If government were a matter of will
upon any side, yours, without question, ought to be super