to the Federal Convention, now is the time to reap the fruit of our labors; and if we do not do it now, I am afraid we shall never have another opportunity."

Fisher Ames then arose and asked for an immediate adoption of the Constitution, pointing out the danger of delay and the pending disaster which threatened the whole country should the Constitution fail to be

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The long delay in the decision of the Massachusetts convention had raised the excitement to fever heat throughout the country. Not only were the New England people anxiously awaiting news of the action of the convention, but intrigues were going on as far south as Virginia to influence the result. On January 21 the Boston Gazette appeared with

States. He said:

"Shall we put every thing to hazard by rejecting this Constitution? We have great advantages by it in respect of navigation; and it is the general interest of the states that we should have them. But if we reject it, what security have we that we shall obtain them a second time against the local interests and prejudices of the other states? Who is there that really loves liberty, that will not tremble for its safety, if the federal government should be dissolved? Can liberty be safe without government?

If we

The union is essential to our being as a nation. The pillars that prop it are crumbling to powder. The union is the vital sap that nourishes the tree. reject the Constitution, to use the language of the country, we girdle the tree, its leaves will wither, its branches drop off, and the mouldering trunk will be torn down by the tempest. What security has this single state against foreign enemies? Could we defend the vast country, which the British so much desire? Can we protect our fisheries, or secure by treaties a sale of the produce of our lands in foreign markets? Is there no loss, no danger, by delay? In spite of our negligence and perverseness, are we to enjoy at all times the privilege of forming a Constitution, which no other nation has enjoyed at all? We approve our own form of government, and seem to think ourselves in safety under its protection. We talk as if there was no danger of deciding wrong. But when the inundation comes, shall we stand on dry land? The state government is a beautiful structure. It is situated, however, on the naked beach. The union is the dyke to fence out the flood. That dyke is broken and decayed, and if we do not repair it, when the next spring tide comes, we shall be buried in one common ruin."

* See Fiske, Critical Period, pp. 324–326.

CORRUPTION!!! The most diabolical plan is on foot to corrupt the members of the convention who oppose the adoption of the new Constitution. Large sums of money have been brought from a neighboring state for that purpose, contributed by the wealthy. If so, is it not probable that there may be collections for the same accursed purpose nearer home?"* However this might have been, it is certain that Richard Henry Lee wrote to Gerry urging that the Constitution should not be adopted without insisting upon various amendments; and, in order to consider these amendments, it was suggested that another Federal Convention be held. Washington, however, offset the influence of this suggestion. by writing:

"If another Federal Convention is attempted, its members will be more discordant and will agree upon no general plan. The Constitution is the best that can be obtained at this time.

The Constitution or disunion are before us to choose from. If the Constitution is our choice, a constitutional door is open for amendments, and they may be adopted in a peaceable manner without tumult or disorder."

*Fiske, Critical Period, p. 328.

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Among the objections were the lack of a bill of rights, the failure to guarantee religious liberty, freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances. It did not provide against the odious "Quartering Act" nor against general search-warrants, and did not in unmistakable terms prescribe the methods by which persons should be tried for criminal offences. No provision was made against burning at the stake, or stretching on the rack, or peculiar religious opinions. The friends of the Constitution therefore suggested that amendments be proposed which should contain the essential provisions of a bill of rights. As we have seen, as soon as this plan was matured, Hancock presented it to the convention, and in this way the first ten amendments originated, which were acted upon by Congress in 1790 and became part of the Constitution in 1791.*

A vote being taken on February 6 the friends of adoption carried the Convention by a vote of 187 to 168. In transmitting to Congress

*The reader will find these amendments in the Supplement to the Journal of the Federal Convention, pp. 401-404.

Schouler, United States, vol. i., p. 68; Elliot's Debates, vol. ii., p. 181. See also Lincoln's letter to Washington, in Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution, vol. iv., pp. 208-209; McMaster, vol. i., p. 479; Samuel B. Harding, The Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in the State of Massachusetts, in Harvard Historical Studies (1896); Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1856); Madison's Works, vol. i., p. 377.

their assent and ratification, the members said: " The Convention do, in the name and behalf of the people of this Commonwealth, enjoin it upon their representatives in Congress at all times, until the alterations and provisions aforesaid have been considered agreeable to the fifth article of the said Constitution, to exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal methods to obtain a ratification of the said alterations and provisions, in such manner as is provided in the said article." Following the ratification, the people of Boston celebrated the event by public ceremonies and festivities. On February 17 a

a procession of 5,000 people paraded the streets, those comprising the procession consisting of all the trades of the town and its neighborhood, each with its appropriate decorations, emblems and mottoes. In the centre of the pageant was a ship, the Federal Constitution, with colors flying, and attended by the merchants, captains, and seamen of the port. On the 18th 18th a public banquet was held, at which each of the States that had then adopted the Constitution was separately toasted, and those who had opposed the adoption praised for their patriotic submission.

Shortly after the ratification by Massachusetts, the New Hampshire convention assembled, but almost immediately adjourned until the third

14

If

vention, but his personality was allpervading. On his return from Mt. Vernon, he mailed a copy of the Constitution to Henry with his endorsement, as being the best obtainable, but his arguments failed to convince Henry.* As Washington was not a member of the ratifying convention, the main reliance of the Federalists was Madison. Though lacking in the graces of oratory, Madison was not wanting in the power of persuasion. "His arguments were often, if not always, prepared with care. If there was no play of fancy, there was no forgetfulness of facts. there was a lack of imagination, there was none of historical illustration, when the subject admitted it. If manner was forgotten, method was not. His aim was to prove and to hold fast [to that which is true]; to make the wrong clear, and to put the right in its place; to appeal to reason, not to passion, nor to prejudice; to try his cause by the light of clear logic, hard facts, and sound learning; to convince his hearers of the truth, as he believed in it, not to take their judgment captive by surprise with harmonious modulation and grace grace of movement." +

*See Sparks' ed. of Washington's Writings, vol. ix., pp. 265-266; Ford's ed. of Washington's Writings, vol. xi., p. 165; and for Henry's reply, Tyler, Life of Patrick Henry, pp. 279–280. See also Sparks, vol. ix., pp. 273, 356; Madison's Works (Congress ed.), vol. i., pp. 356, 364–365, 378, 387-388; Henry, Life of Patrick Henry, vol. ii., pp. 319-321; Hunt, Life of Madison, p. 142. † Gay, Life of Madison, p. 118.

Pendleton, Marshall and Jefferson by their well chosen words made a favorable impression.* Jefferson, in a letter to William Carmichael, said: "It will be more difficult if we lose this instrument, to recover what is good in it than to correct what is bad after we shall have adopted it. It has therefore my hearty prayers." † John Quincy Adams says:

"A deeper interest was involved in the decision of Virginia, than in that of any other member of the Confederacy, and in no State had the opposition to the plan been so deep, so extensive, so formidable as there. Two of her citizens, second only to Washington by the weight of their characters, the splendor of their public services, and the reputation of their genius and talents, Patrick Henry, the first herald of the Revolution in the South, as James Otis had been at the North, and Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the most intimate and confidential friend of Madison himself, disapproved the Constitution. Jefferson was indeed at that time absent from the State and the country, as the representative of the United States at the Court of France. His objections to the Constitution were less fervent and radical. Patrick Henry's opposition was to the whole plan, and to its fundamental principle, the change from a Confederation of Independent States, to a complicated government, partly federal, and partly national. He was a member of the Virginia Convention; and there it was that Mr. Madison was destined to meet and encounter, and overcome the all but irresistible power of his eloquence, and the inexhaustible resources of his gigantic mind.

"The debates in the Virginia Convention furnish an exposition of the principles of the Constitution, and a commentary upon its provisions not inferior to the papers of the Federalist. Patrick Henry pursued his hostility to the system into all its details; objecting not only to the Preamble and the first Article, but to the Senate, to the President, to the Judicial Power, to the treaty making power, to the control given to Congress

* Schouler, United States, vol. i., pp. 71-72; Fiske, Critical Period, p. 336 et seq.

Ford's ed. of Jefferson's Writings, vol. v., p. 25; Schouler, pp. 73-74.