Page:The attorney-general and the cabinet (IA attorneygeneralc00lear).pdf/15

Rh, was passed by the House in April, but got no farther than a second reading in the Senate.

That this bill met Madison’s wishes, so far at least as its general principle was concerned, is probable. But Madison was disturbed when he learned that his able attorney-general, William Pinkney of Maryland, was ready to resign because of the residence requirement likely to be enacted. Pinkney, in fact, did resign some months before the fate of the resolution was known, for he was probably chiefly dependent on private practice in Baltimore, the city in which he resided. In accepting his resignation Madison wrote: "There may be instances where talents and services of peculiar value outweigh the consideration of constant residence; and I have felt all the force of this truth since I have had the pleasure of numbering you among the partners of my public trust"

When Pinkney's successor, Richard Rush, was appointed, Madison is said to have stipulated that during the sessions of Congress Rush should remain in Washington.

William Wirt of Virginia accepted the post of attorney-general offered him by President Monroe late in October,, with a clear understanding that there was nothing in the duties of his office to prevent him from carrying on general practice in Washington, where he took up his residence, or from attending occasional calls to Baltimore, Philadelphia or elsewhere, if time allowed. He knew, however, that his first obligation was to Monroe and to the regular duties of his new position.