I think your citing Charles Thomson [Secretary of
the Articles Congress] is more trouble than you acknowledge. Thomson was the
highest functionary of the outgoing Articles [of Confederation] government. He
held official materials for George Washington and surrendered those materials
personally to George Washington at the inauguration of the new government. Yet Thomson
held no position in George Washington’s government, and as far as I know, George Washington offered Thomson no position. The same was true (as far as I
know) for Washington’s successors and high ranking cabinet members in his and his successors administrations.
The reason
might have been that Thomson was just no good. The letters you cite [where
Thomson offered Washington legal advice regarding the new constitution] might
be seen as George Washington’s offering Thomson a try out for a position in the
new government. [If that is true, then] Thomson [apparently] flubbed the audition. You cite
him as good authority—but maybe he was seen as bad authority offering second
rate advice—and that’s why he was offered nothing by George Washington, his
successors, his cabinet, and the new Congress (e.g., posts such as Clerk of the House and Secretary
of the Senate). It is difficult to be sure.
Seth
Seth Barrett Tillman, Charles Thomson (1730–1824), New Reform Club (Jan. 13, 2019, 2:56 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2019/01/charles-thomson-1730-1824.html>
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