Note 1272 — Chapter XII
Reading edition
"Hortensius" to John Marshall, Secretary of State, in the Richmond Examiner; reprinted in the Aurora, Feb. 9, 1801. George Hay, the writer of this letter, was a lawyer in Richmond. Jefferson appointed him United States Attorney for the District of Virginia, and, as such, he conducted the prosecution of Aaron Burr for treason before John Marshall, who, as Chief Justice of the United States, presided at the trial. (See vol. iii of this work.)
Marshall was again attacked in two open letters, signed "Lucius," in the Richmond Examiner, Feb. 10, 13, 1801. His reported opinion, said "Lucius," alarmed "the active friends of freedom"; Marshall was "the Idol of his party" and knew the influence of his views: unless he publicly disclaimed the one now attributed to him, "Lucius" proposed to "unveil" Marshall's "motives" and "expose" him "uncovered to the sight of the people"—his "depravity shall excite their odium," etc. "Lucius's" attacks ended with Jefferson's election.