"[9]
I infer that Hamilton and many other Federalists reasoned somewhat thus,
not only from what they wrote, but from the temper of their minds, and,
if they did, events largely justified them. John Jay, Oliver Ellsworth,
and John Marshall were successively appointed to the office of Chief
Justice, nor did the complexion of the Supreme Court change until after
1830.
What interests us, however, is not so much what the Federalists thought,
or the motives which actuated them, as the effect which the clothing of
the judiciary with political functions has had upon the development of
the American republic, more especially as that extreme measure might
have been avoided, had Pinckney's plan been adopted. Nor, looking back
upon the actual course of events, can I perceive that, so far as the
movement toward consolidation was concerned, the final result would have
varied materially whether Congress or the Supreme Court had exercised
control over state legislation. Marshall might just as well, in the one
case as the other, have formulated his theory of a semi-centralized
administration.
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