6186. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Removals.—[further continued]
I give full credit to the
wisdom of the measures pursued by the Governor
of Pennsylvania in removals from office.
I have no doubt he followed the wish of
the State; and he had no other to consult.
But in the General Government each State is
to be administered, not on its local principles,
but on the principles of all the States formed
into a general result. That I should administer
the affairs of Massachusetts and Connecticut,
for example, on federal principles, could
not be approved. I dare say, too, that the
extensive removals from office in Pennsylvania
may have contributed to the great conversion
which has been manifested among
its citizens. But I respect them too much to
believe it has been the exclusive or even the
principal motive. I presume the sound measures
of their government, and of the General
one, have weighed more in their estimation
and conversation, than the consideration of
the particular agents employed.—
To William Dunae.
Ford ed., viii, 259.
(M.
July. 1803)
