6209. OPINION, Compromise of.—
Some
[members of Congress] think that independence
requires them to follow always their own
opinion, without respect for that of others.
This has never been my opinion, nor my
practice, when I have been of that or any
other body. Differing, on a particular question,
from those whom I knew to be of the
same political principles with myself, and
with whom I generally thought and acted,
a consciousness of the fallibility of the human
mind, and of my own in particular, with a respect
for the accumulated judgment of my
friends, has induced me to suspect erroneous
impressions in myself, to suppose my own
opinion wrong, and to act with them on
theirs. The want of this spirit of compromise,
or of self-distrust, proudly, but falsely called
independence, is what gives the federalists
victories which they could never obtain, if
these brethren could learn to respect the opinions
of their friends more than of their
enemies, and prevents many able and honest
men from doing all the good they otherwise
might do. These considerations * * *
have often quieted my own conscience in
voting and acting on the judgment of others
against my own.—
To William Duane. Washington ed. v, 591.
Ford ed., ix, 315.
(M.
1811)
