and King, of Massachusetts; Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, and Franklin, of Pennsylvania; Johnson, Sherman, and Ellsworth, of Connecticut; Hamilton and Lansing, of New York; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, the latter chosen governor of that State the next year; Patterson, of New Jersey; Martin, of Maryland; Dickinson, of Delaware; and Williamson, of North Carolina."*

It is evident, that, in this historic convention, God had brought together in a very remarkable degree the strength, experience, and wisdom of the nation; and the task undertaken required all, and more than all, they could command.

THE CONSTITUTION FORMED.

Let us now glance at the difficulties of the work taken in hand by these distinguished men. A government of freedom by the people themselves had been now experimented only far enough to show the evils which threatened its destruction. The great men of the nation had become conservative by the very necessities arising from the novelty and extreme difficulties of their experiment. Jefferson, almost the only representative man who had full faith in the competency of the people to form and sustain a democratic government, was abroad. There was little danger of rashness in such an assembly. But it was certain that the greatest distinctness of individual opinions and most obstinate local prejudices would appear.

We may now wonder at the wisdom which controlled their final decisions; at the nice and accurate balances of the Constitution they produced; the delicate adjustment of reserved and conceded rights between the people and the government, between the several States and the Union, and between the legislative, the executive, and judicial departments. In each of these particulars, there were almost infinite chances for fatal mistake, and but a single one for

Hildreth, iii. 483, 484.

perfect success. What surer evidence of divine guidance do we need than the superhuman skill shown in the clear definitions of rights which came from the chaos following the death-struggle for liberty? Not merely were the complicated difficulties which arose from a crude and forming state of society to be overcome, the destructive errors of empirical systems to be avoided, the strong tendencies to dissolution. and anarchy to be counteracted, but the vast future was to be provided for, emergencies which at that time did not exist even in conception, states of society which no human sagacity could foresee, powers to grapple with and crush antagonisms which did not then appear even in the sphere of possibility, all requiring a compass and reach of wisdom which is under no condition the natural attribute of man.

We cannot wonder that there was at first confusion of ideas in the convention; that Washington and his compeers in this great crisis trembled for the fate of their country.

We are compelled to admit that this distinguished body seemed to have forgotten their true dependence. There does not appear to have been that devout temper of mind, that humble, fervent spirit of prayer, which had pervaded the Revolution. In accounting for the success of their efforts, and for the great wrongs which found place in the Constitution, one event must be mentioned as of the utmost historical importance. For long days they labored, apparently in vain: anarchy and ruin alone stared them in the face. At length, Dr. Franklin arose, and said, "I will suggest, Mr. President, the propriety of nominating and appointing, before we separate, a chaplain to this convention, whose duty it shall be uniformly to assemble with us, and introduce the business of each day by an address to the Creator of the universe and the Governor of all nations, beseeching him to preside in our councils, enlighten our minds with a portion of heavenly wisdom, influence our hearts with a love of truth and justice, and crown our labors with complete and abundant success."

"The doctor sat down," says Mr. Dayton of New

Jersey; "and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and delighted as was that of Washington at the close of this address. Nor were the members of the convention generally less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority even greater than we may suppose an oracle to have had on a Roman senate." How delightful this revelation of a returning sense of propriety to these representatives of a religious people! What honor it reflects What honor it reflects upon the American sage and the Father of his Country, as well as upon "the members of the convention generally"! and what hope it inspires that threatening dangers will be averted, and God appear in the words which would define our constitutional liberties!

With what mortification, then, must the Christian historian record the fact, that "the motion was evaded by an adjournment. It was feared, according to Madison, lest prayers for the first time, at that late day, might alarm the public by giving the impression that matters were already desperate." Alas! what blindness can come over the mind of a man! what wrong can be done by the adroitness of an astute politician!

While, however, we mournfully record the success of the intrigue which prevented the official enactment of this measure, so high in dignity and profound in wisdom, we cannot doubt that the open acknowledgment of God in the address and resolution offered by Franklin, and the general and hearty mutual response which followed, were answered by the divine recognition and blessing. Both the right of this sublime proposal, and the wrong of the disposition made of it, appear in the result.

It is not necessary for us to follow in detail the struggles in the convention between the smaller and larger States. The former feared that their interests would be compromised by a strong consolidated government; but they were paci

* Hildreth, iii. 495.

fied by the concession of an equal vote with the largest States in the Senate of the United States.

The advocates of "States rights," as against a strong Central Government, were those from Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware, with a majority from Maryland and New York. The delegates from New Hampshire had retired from the convention; and Rhode Island had become so fearful of a destruction of her influence by a consolidated General Government, that she had declined to send delegates to the convention. The National Party," as it was then termed, represented Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. How strange these facts appear to us at the present day! Precisely at this point, the peril of the nation and the control of Providence appear. If New Hampshire and Rhode Island had been present, they would doubtless have voted with the "States-rights" party, and no General Government would have been possible.

It must be determined by whom the House of Representatives should be chosen. Sherman, sustained by Gerry, the States of South Carolina and New Jersey, and a portion of Connecticut and Delaware, vehemently opposed election by the people. Had God suffered them to succeed, there would, so far as we can see, have been a complete end to the attempt to found a true republic. How wisely, then, was it ordered that Wilson, Madison, and Mason should stand up to defend successfully the rights of the people! Thus, against numbers and influence and the highest probability, God preserved inviolate another fundamental principle of our Great Republic.

Hamilton was not easily reconciled to democracy in any form. He was sustained by Wilson in demanding an absolute executive veto on the acts of Congress. This would have been the establishment of an insufferable despotism, which God would not permit.

Two most important concessions were made to the Gen

eral Government, -in giving it power to veto all State laws in conflict with the Constitution or "inconsistent with the harmony of the Union," and fully investing it with the treaty-making power. Without these, no nation could have been constituted.

The most formidable difficulty arose from the institution of slavery. The conflict was long and perilous; but it ended in a compromise which gave the slave States a threefifths representation for their human chattels. Cautiously avoiding the name of slavery, it tolerated the institution in substance, and provided for the rendition of "persons held to service." This was the grand vice of the great Constitution. But the demand was imperative. Davis, of North Carolina, expressed the true spirit of this persistent wrong when he arose and said "it was time to speak out. He saw that it was meant by some gentlemen to deprive the Southern States of any share of representation for their blacks. He was sure that North Carolina would never confederate on any terms that did not rate them at least as three-fifths. If the Eastern States meant, therefore, to exclude them altogether, the business was at an end." The opponents of the vile institution yielded exactly where they should have stood firm; and the irrepressible conflict was handed down to the great future. If it be said that without this compromise there could have been no national union, we answer, This is to affirm that men would defeat the great national plans of God by simply doing right; that, to secure the future of the United States, it was necessary to incorporate into its fundamental law an indorsement of the largest and most complicated crime known among men, a statement which cannot be written or read without a feeling of horror. No: the true national spirit loathed the corruption which so far marred the work of the convention, and shamelessly confronted the fundamental doctrine of human freedom, for the support of which the American Republic was instituted, and threw the faith