FEDERATE RELATIONS. 41

legislative choice, and thereby give an undivi-
ded vote of the whole number to which their
state is entitled, for their favorite candidate, Ma-
ryland has in every instance, given a vote so di-
vided as to render her weight of no political
consequence in the scale of the union. Mary-
land has adhered to this method of voting from
a very commendable attachment to the system
which she considered to be greatly preferable
as a uniform system, and with an earnest hope
repeatedly expressed,that her sister states would
modify their system, to one, which when ab-
stractly considered, must be admitted to be
more conformable to republican principles, than
either of the other modes; besides which, it was
every way desirable to obtain a uniformity in
the mode of electing electors in the several
states—But the subject has been recently deba-
ted at great length in the United States con-
gress, where amendments of the constitution of
the union must originate, and has resulted in a
vote decidedly opposed to the alteration wished
for by Maryland. The representatives of the
larger states in Congress, particularly Virginia
and Pennsylvania, were decidedly opposed to
resigning the advantage which they hold in
choosing the national executive, by giving an
undivided vote. Their doctrine has been re-
peatedly avowed—"it is not of so much conse-
quence to us who is to be chosen, as it is for
whoever he may be, to know, that we are pow-
erful, when a choice is to be made." The
4*