Page:Henry Adams' History of the United States Vol. 1.djvu/292

1801. lay-figure which Federalists chose to declare a mangled and bleeding Constitution. Governeur Morris of New York, whose oratory was apt to verge on the domain of melodrama, exceeded himself in lamentations over the grave of the Constitution:—


 * "Cast not away this only anchor of our safety. I have seen its progress.  I know the difficulties through which it was obtained.  I stand in the presence of Almighty God and of the world, and I declare to you that if you lose this charter, never, no, never will you get another!  We are now, perhaps, arrived at the parting point.  Here, even here, we stand on the brink of fate.  Pause! pause!  For Heaven's sake, pause!"

If ever a party had paused, it was the Republicans. The progress of what Gouverneur Morris with characteristic rhetoric, called the "anchor," was thus far arrested only in appearance; and there were already symptoms that the Virginians had reached not only the limit of their supposed revolutionary projects, but also of their influence, and that they were themselves anxious to go no farther. Signs of trouble appeared among the Northern democrats, and sharp hints were given that the Virginians might expect revolt, not so much against their principles as against their patronage. Vice-President Burr did not appear in Washington until six weeks of the session had passed; and when he took the chair of the senate, Jan. 15, 1802, the Virginians had every reason to expect that he would show them no kindness. Under the affected polish and quiet of his manner, he nursed as