void by reason of its repugnance to the Constitution.
Ellsworth, at least, held that in the discharge of their ordinary
duties, the judges of the federal courts would have the right to
pronounce acts of Congress void when they stood in conflict with the
Constitution. Attempts were made, in the course of the debate on the
Judiciary Act, to strip the federal courts of all jurisdiction except in
admiralty and maritime cases. Many members of Congress agreed with
Maclay in thinking that the Judiciary Act was calculated to draw all law
business into the federal courts. "The Constitution is meant to swallow
all the state constitutions, by degrees," averred the worthy Senator
from Pennsylvania; "and this [bill] to swallow, by degrees, all the
state judiciaries."

The wisdom of the new President appeared in his appointments to office.
Concerned solely with the fate of the federal experiment, he sought
consistently the support of those who would add weight to the new
Government, and who were Federalists in politics. Not only personal
fitness but sectional interests had to be taken into consideration.
Washington was solicitous to draw "the first characters of the union"
into the judiciary, particularly those who had served in the state
courts and commanded public confidence. His choice for Chief Justice
fell upon John Jay. Rutledge, of South Carolina, Wilson, of
Pennsylvania, Cushing, of Massachusetts, Harrison, of Maryland, and
Blair, of Virginia, were first named as Associate Justices. Washington
chose his chief advisers also from different sections. Thomas Jefferson
was invited to become Secretary of State--a post which he accepted
somewhat reluctantly. Hamilton did not have to be urged to take the
headship of the Treasury. Knox was given the superintendence of a
military establishment which then numbered only a few hundred men.
Edmund Randolph was appointed Attorney-General.

Before Congress adjourned in the fall, it adopted and sent to the States
for ratification twelve amendments to the new Constitution. There were
those who thought this action precipitate. Why tinker with a
constitution which had hardly been tried? To all such Madison replied
cogently that the amendments which his committee reported did not alter
the framework of the instrument, but added only certain safeguards to
individual rights. The lack of a declaration of rights had been deplored
in every convention and had cost the support of many respectable peopl