onfute such
misrepresentations as we have noted. It is a thankless, and, we believe,
a superfluous task to vindicate the manliness, sincerity, and patriotism
of the authors of the 'Federalist' and their fellow statesmen; indeed,
their illustrious opponents in political questions again and again bore
witness to the worth, wisdom, and integrity of the _men_, while many
disputed the doctrine of the writers; popular sentiment embalms their
fame and cherishes their memories; the insinuations of any
self-constituted editor cannot impair the confidence or reverse the
verdict which time has only confirmed and national growth made more
emphatic. On the other hand, such attempts to diminish the personal
authority, by misrepresenting the methods and motives of these eminent
men, as are exhibited in the whole tone and manner of this editorship of
a national work, imply a perverted sense of the duties of the hour, an
insensibility to the terrible crisis through which the nation is
passing, that cannot be too severely condemned by the patriotic and
intelligent of all parties. Now, if never before, we should keep bright
the escutcheon of our country's honor, and renew our love and admiration
for the fathers of the republic and our faith in their principles.

Scrupulous as firm, Jay acted with judicial moderation; he advocated the
last petition before declaring hostility against Great Britain--desirous
of trying every means before accepting the dread alternative of war; he
insisted upon a general convention of the States before deciding upon
the new Constitution; he was loyal until loyalty became an abrogation of
free citizenship; law and justice with him went hand in hand with
reform, and rectitude, not impulse, gave consistency to his course. Such
a man lays himself open to factious criticism far more than reckless
politicians, who are restrained by no sense of responsibility; but, on
the other hand, in the last analysis, they stand forth the most pure
because the most patient, just, and truly patriotic of representative
statesmen.

'Mr. Jay,' says John Adams, 'had as much influence in the preparatory
measures for digesting the Constitution and in obtaining its adoption as
any man in the nation;' yet according to this editor of the
'Federalist,' he found therein 'little that he could commend, and
nothing for which he could labor:' the same authority declares that he
was regarded 'by the majority of his fellow citizens as selfish,
i