Note 1026 — Chapter VII
Reading edition
Jefferson to Thweat, Jan. 19, 1821, Works: Ford, xii, 196-97.
Wirt, though a Republican, asserted that "the functions to be performed by the Supreme Court ... are among the most difficult and perilous which are to be performed under the Constitution. They demand the loftiest range of talents and learning and a soul of Roman purity and firmness. The questions which come before them frequently involve the fate of the Constitution, the happiness of the whole nation." (Wirt to Monroe, May 5, 1823, Kennedy, ii, 153.)
Wirt, in this letter, was urging the appointment of Kent to the Supreme Bench, notwithstanding the Federalism of the New York Chancellor. "Federal politics are no way dangerous on the bench of the Supreme Court," adds Wirt. (Ib. 155.)