them to a more just conduct, have been and will be ineffectual," wrote Oliver Wolcott. "I hope, therefore, however disagreeable it may be to imply an error of judgment in the President in appointing Mr. Rutledge, that he will not be confirmed in his office."[1] Moreover, before the Senate convened on December 16, 1795, another ground for rejection of the nomination had arisen, when it became generally known that Rutledge was suffering from intermittent attacks of mental derangement which might interfere with the performance of his judicial duties. Referring to this possibility, Alexander Hamilton wrote to Rufus King, Senator from New York, who had asked advice on the question of confirmation: "It is now, and, in certain probable events, will still more be of infinite consequence that our Judiciary should be well composed," and he advised careful inquiry as to Rutledge's qualifications, saying: "The subject is truly a perplexing one; my mind has several times fluctuated. If there was nothing in the case but his imprudent sally upon a certain occasion, I should think the reasons for letting him pass would outweigh those for opposing his passage. But if it be really true that he is sottish, or that his mind is otherwise deranged, or that he has exposed himself by improper conduct in pecuniary transactions, the bias of my judgment would be to negative. And as to the fact, I would satisfy myself by careful inquiry of persons of character who may have had an opportunity of knowing."[2]
- ↑ Administration of Washington and Adams (1846), by George Gibbs, I, letter of Nov. 23, 1795.
- ↑ Hamilton, X, letter of Dec. 14, 1795. As early as Aug. 4, 1795, Attorney-General Bradford had written to Alexander Hamilton that Rutledge's mind was disordered. The Farmer's Weekly Museum, Feb. 2, 1796, stated that a letter to Philadelphia from a gentleman in Charleston, Dec. 31, 1795, stated that Rutledge, on Dec. 26, attempted to drown himself: "It is said he has discovered symptoms of derangement for some weeks past."
