Qualities, which should characterize the first Magistrate of so respectable a Commonwealth. This is the Right, it is the Duty of every Citizen. And had I been present, I should most certainly have voted for that Candidate. I may have been mistaken in my Judgment; and, as it becomes a Citizen, I will, acquiesce in the Choice of a Majority of the People, who ought to know & prefer the fittest Person. If they do not, they are hardly worthy to be servd by any Man. I hope we shall never fall into those Dregs of Time, when it shall be the Custom for one Citizen to treat another ill, merely because a popular Man has markd him as his Enemy, or because others, for servile Purposes, have reported him as such. This may afford Sport for the Enemies of our Cause, who are laying the Snare with great Art & Industry. James Rivington has publishd in his Royal Gazette, that the Acrimony between Mr Hancock & me, was owing to his Attachment to General Washington, & my being on the Contrary, desirous of his Removal. This is an old Story which Men have believd and disbelievd as they pleasd, without much Concern of mine. It was a pityful Contrivance to render me obnoxious to the General & our common Friends. If there has been any Difference between Mr H and me, Rivington knows not the Origin of it. Mr Hancock never thought me an Enemy to Genl Washington. He never thought that I was desirous of his being removd, & therefore could never treat me with Acrimony on that Account. I never wishd for the Removal of General Washington, but if I had even attempted to effect it, it might have been an Evidence of my Deficiency in Judgment, or Rashness, but it could be no Evidence that I was his Enemy. Mr W C may think that I am an Enemy to Mr Hancock, because he may have heard that I preferd another as a Governor before him. At this Rate, I must be thought an Enemy to every Man to whom I cannot give the Preference for an exalted Station for which few of the Many can be supposd to be qualified. Ridiculous [&] mischievous as this is, I am told that some carry their opinions further and that it is not enough, that a Man who cannot consistently vote for a Governor is to be reckon'd his Enemy, but he is for this Reason to be excluded from every Department. Who could wish to hold a Seat in Government on so slavish a Tenure? The People of Massachusetts under the old Government have seen enough of the mischievous Effects of the Governors having a Power to negative Elections & I cannot see the Difference between this & his being able to influence or prevent an Election by causing it to be believd that a Candidate is his Enemy. He who gives his Suffrage according to the Dictates of a well informd Judgment, is certainly a virtuous Citizen. And is it to be supposd that such a Man would withhold his Influence in favor of a wise Measure, because a Gentleman is placed in the Chair by his Fellow Citizens, whom he did not vote for? Such a Supposition