Essays on the Constitution of the United States Part 29

And so anxious were its zealous promoters to hasten to a birth this misshapened heterogenous monster of ambition and interest, that, for some time before the Convention rose, upon the least attempt to alter its form, or modify its powers, the most fretful impatience was shown, such as would not have done much honour to a State a.s.sembly, had they been sitting as long a time, and their treasury empty; while it was repeatedly urged on the contrary, but urged in vain, that in so momentous an undertaking, in forming a system for such an extensive continent, on which the political happiness of so many millions, even to the latest ages, may depend, no time could be too long-no thoughts and reflections too great-and that if by continuing six months, or even as many years, we could free the system from all its errors and defects, it would be the best use to which we could possibly devote our time. Thus my fellow citizens am I under necessity of resigning again into the hands of the Landholder, all those virtues both of a positive and negative kind, which from an excess of goodness he bestowed upon me, and give him my full permission to dispose of them hereafter in favour of some other person, who may be more deserving, and to whom they will be more acceptable: at the same time, I must frankly acknowledge, however it may operate as a proof of my dullness and stupidity, that the "ignorance in the science of government" under which I laboured at first was not removed by more than two months close application under those august and enlightened masters of the science with which the Convention abounded, nor was I able to discover during that time, either by my own researches, or by any light borrowed from those luminaries, anything in the history of mankind or in the sentiments of those who have favoured the world with their ideas on government, to warrant or countenance the motley mixture of a system proposed: a system which is an innovation in government of the most extraordinary kind; a system neither wholly federal, nor wholly national-but a strange hotch-potch of both-just so much federal in appearance as to give its advocates in some measure, an opportunity of pa.s.sing it as such upon the unsuspecting mult.i.tude, before they had time and opportunity to examine it, and yet so predominantly national as to put it in the power of its movers, whenever the machine shall be set agoing, to strike out every part that has the appearance of being federal, and to render it wholly and entirely a national government: And if the framing and approving the Const.i.tution now offered to our acceptance, is a proof of knowledge in the science of government, I not only admit, but I glory in my ignorance; and if my rising to speak had such a somnific influence on the Convention as the Landholder represents, I have no doubt the time will come, should this system be adopted, when my countrymen will ardently wish I had never left the Convention, but remained there to the last, daily administering to my a.s.sociates the salutary opiate. Happy, thrice happy, would it have been for my country, if the whole of that time had been devoted to sleep, or been a blank in our lives, rather than employed in forging its chains. As I fully intended to have returned to the Convention before the completion of its business, my colleagues very probably might, and were certainly well warranted to, give that information the Landholder mentions; but whether the Convention was led to conclude that I "would have honoured the Const.i.tution with my signature had not indispensable business called me away," may be easily determined after stating a few facts. The Landholder admits I was at first against the system-when the compromise took place on the subject of representation, I in the most explicit manner declared in Convention, that though I had concurred in the report, so far as to consent to proceed upon it that we might see what kind of a system might be formed, yet I disclaimed every idea of being bound to give it my a.s.sent, but reserved to myself the full liberty of finally giving it my negative, if it appeared to me inconsistent with the happiness of my country. In a desultory conversation which long after took place in Convention, one morning before our honourable president took the chair, he was observing how unhappy it would be should there be such a diversity of sentiment as to cause any of the members to oppose the system when they returned to their states; on that occasion I replied that I was confident no state in the union would more readily accede to a proper system of government than Maryland, but that the system under consideration was of such a nature, that I never could recommend it for acceptance; that I thought the state never ought to adopt it, and expressed my firm belief that it never would.

An honourable member from Pennsylvania objected against that part of the sixth article which requires an oath to be taken by the persons there mentioned, in support of the const.i.tution, observing (as he justly might from the conduct the convention was then pursuing) how little such oaths were regarded. I immediately joined in the objection, but declared my reason to be, that I thought it such a const.i.tution as no friend of his country ought to bind himself to support. And not more than two days before I left Philadelphia, another honourable member from the same state urged most strenuously that the Convention ought to hasten their deliberations to a conclusion, a.s.signing as a reason that the a.s.sembly of Pennsylvania was just then about to meet, and that it would be of the greatest importance to bring the system before that session of the legislature, in order that a Convention of the State might be immediately called to ratify it, before the enemies of the system should have an opportunity of making the people acquainted with their objections, at the same time declaring that if the matter should be delayed and the people have time to hear the variety of objections which would be made to it by its opposers, he thought it doubtful whether that state or any other state in the union would adopt it.(60) As soon as the honourable member took his seat, I rose and observed, that I was precisely of the same opinion, that the people of America never would, nor did I think they ought to, adopt the system, if they had time to consider and understand it; whereas a p.r.o.neness for novelty and change-a conviction that some alteration was necessary, and a confidence in the members who composed the Convention-might possibly procure its adoption, if brought hastily before them, but that these sentiments induced me to wish that a very different line of conduct should be pursued from that recommended by the honourable member. I wished the people to have every opportunity of information, as I thought it much preferable that a bad system should be rejected at first, than hastily adopted and afterwards be unavailingly repented of. If these were instances of my "high approbation," I gave them in abundance as all the Convention can testify, and continued so to do till I left them. That I expressed great regret at being obliged to leave Philadelphia, and a fixed determination to return if possible before the Convention rose, is certain. That I might declare that I had rather lose an hundred guineas than not to be there at the close of the business is very probable-and it is possible that some who heard me say this, not knowing my reasons, which could not be expressed without a breach of that secrecy to which we were enjoined, might erroneously have concluded that my motive was the gratification of vanity, in having my name enrolled with those of a Franklin and a Was.h.i.+ngton. As to the first, I cordially join in the tribute of praise so justly paid to the enlightened philosopher and statesman, while the polite, friendly and affectionate treatment myself and my family received from that venerable sage and the worthy family in which he is embosomed, will ever endear him to my heart. The name of Was.h.i.+ngton is far above my praise. I would to Heaven that on this occasion one more wreath had been added to the number of those which are twined around his amiable brow-that those with which it is already surrounded may flourish with immortal verdure, nor wither or fade till time shall be no more, is my fervent prayer, and may that glory which encircles his head ever s.h.i.+ne with undiminished rays. To find myself under the necessity of opposing such ill.u.s.trious characters, whom I venerated and loved, filled me with regret; but viewing the system in the light I then did, and yet do view it, to have hesitated would have been criminal; complaisance would have been guilt. If it was the idea of my state that whatever a Was.h.i.+ngton or Franklin approved, was to be blindly adopted, she ought to have spared herself the expence of sending any members to the Convention, or to have instructed them implicitly to follow where they led the way. It was not to have my "name enrolled with the other labourers," that I wished to return to Philadelphia-that sacrifice which I must have made of my principles by putting my name to the Const.i.tution, could not have been effaced by any derivative l.u.s.tre it could possibly receive from the bright constellation with which it would have been surrounded. My object was in truth the very reverse; as I had uniformly opposed the system in its progress, I wished to have been present at the conclusion, to have then given it my solemn negative, which I certainly should have done, even had I stood single and alone, being perfectly willing to leave it to the cool and impartial investigation both of the present and of future ages to decide who best understood the science of government-who best knew the rights of men and of states, who best consulted the true interest of America, and who most faithfully discharged the trust reposed in them, those who agreed to or those who opposed the new Const.i.tution-and so fully have I made up my own mind on this subject, that as long as the history of mankind shall record the appointment of the late Convention, and the system which has been proposed by them, it is my highest ambition that my name may also be recorded as one who considered the system injurious to my country, and as such opposed it. Having shown that I did not "alter my opinion after I left Philadelphia," and that I acted no "contradictory parts on the great political stage," and therefore that there are none such to reconcile, the reason a.s.signed by the Landholder for that purpose doth not deserve my notice, except only to observe that he shrewdly intimates there is already a Junto established, who are to share in and deal out the offices of this new government at their will and pleasure, and that they have already fixed upon the character who is to be "Deputy Attorney General of the United States for the State of Maryland." If this is true, it is worth while to inquire of whom this Junto consists, as it might lead to a discovery of the persons for the gratification of whose ambition and interest this system is prepared, and is, if possible, to be enforced, and from the disposition of offices already allotted in the various and numerous departments, we possibly might discover whence proceeds the conviction and zeal of some of its advocates.

LUTHER MARTIN.

_Baltimore, March 19, 1788._

Luther Martin, V.

The Maryland Journal, (Number 1024)

FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1788.

Number III.

TO THE CITIZENS OF MARYLAND.

There is, my fellow citizens, scarcely an individual of common understanding, I believe, in this state, who is any ways acquainted with the proposed Const.i.tution, who doth not allow it to be, in many instances, extremely censurable, and that a variety of alterations and amendments are essentially requisite, to render it consistent with a reasonable security for the liberty of the respective states, and their citizens.

Aristides,(61) it is true, is an exception from this observation; he declares, that "if the whole matter was left to his discretion, he would not change any part of the proposed Const.i.tution," whether he meant this declaration as a proof of his discretion, I will not say; it will however, readily be admitted, by most, as a proof of his enthusiastic zeal in favour of the system. But it would be injustice to that writer not to observe, that if he is as much mistaken in the other parts of the Const.i.tution, as in that which relates to the judicial department, the Const.i.tution which he is so earnestly recommending to his countrymen, and on which he is lavis.h.i.+ng so liberally his commendations, is a thing of his own creation and totally different from that which is offered for your acceptance.-He has given us an explanation of the original and appellate jurisdiction of the judiciary of the general government, and of the manner in which he supposes it is to operate-an explanation so inconsistent with the intention of its framers, and so different from its true construction and from the effect which it will have, should the system be adopted, that I could scarce restrain my astonishment at the error, although I was in some measure prepared for it, by his previous acknowledgment that he did not very well understand that part of the system; a circ.u.mstance I apprehended he did not recollect at the time when he was bestowing upon it his dying benediction. And if one of our judges, possessed of no common share of understanding, and of extensive acquired knowledge, who, as he informs us, has long made the science of government his peculiar study, so little understands the true import and construction of this Const.i.tution, and that too in a part more particularly within his own province, can it be wondered at that the people in general, whose knowledge in subjects of this nature is much more limited and circ.u.mscribed, should but imperfectly comprehend the extent, operation and consequences of so complex and intricate a system; and is not this of itself a strong proof of the necessity that it should be corrected and amended, at least so as to render it more clear and comprehensible to those who are to decide upon it, or to be affected by it. But although almost every one agrees the Const.i.tution, as it is, to be both defective and dangerous, we are not wanting in characters who earnestly advise us to adopt it, in its present form, with all its faults, and a.s.sure us we may safely rely on obtaining hereafter the amendments that are necessary. But why, I pray you, my fellow citizens, should we not insist upon the necessary amendments being made now, while we have the liberty of acting for ourselves, before the Const.i.tution becomes binding upon us by our a.s.sent, as every principle of reason, common sense and safety would dictate? Because, say they, the sentiments of men are so different, and the interests of the different states are so jarring and dissonant, that there is no probability they would agree if alterations and amendments were attempted. Thus with one breath they tell us that the obstacles to any alterations and amendments being agreed to by the states are so insuperable, that it is vain to make the experiment, while in the next they would persuade us it is so certain the states will accede to those which shall be necessary, and that they may be procured even after the system shall be ratified, that we need not hesitate swallowing the poison, from the ease and security of instantly obtaining the antidote-and they seem to think it astonis.h.i.+ng that any person should find a difficulty in reconciling the absurdity and contradiction. If it is easy to obtain proper amendments, do not let us sacrifice everything that ought to be dear to freemen, for want of insisting upon its being done, while we have the power. If the obtaining them will be difficult and improbable, for G.o.d's sake do not accept of such a form of government as without amendments cannot fail of rendering you mere beasts of burthen, and reducing you to a level with your own slaves, with this aggravating distinction, that you once tasted the blessings of freedom. Those who would wish you to believe that the faults in the system proposed are wholly or princ.i.p.ally owing to the difference of state interests, and proceed from that cause, are either imposed upon themselves, or mean to impose upon you. The princ.i.p.al questions, in which the state interests had any material effect, were those which related to representation, and the number in each branch of the legislature, whose concurrence should be necessary for pa.s.sing navigation acts, or making commercial regulations. But what state is there in the union whose interest would prompt it to give the general government the extensive and unlimited powers it possesses in the executive, legislative and judicial departments, together with the powers over the militia, and the liberty of establis.h.i.+ng a standing army without any restriction? What state in the union considers it advantageous to its interest that the President should be re-eligible-the members of both houses appointable to offices-the judges capable of holding other offices at the will and pleasure of the government, and that there should be no real responsibility either in the President or in the members of either branch of the Legislature? Or what state is there that would have been averse to a bill of rights, or that would have wished for the destruction of jury trial in a great variety of cases, and in a particular manner in every case without exception where the government itself is interested? These parts of the system, so far from promoting the interest of any state, or states, have an immediate tendency to annihilate all the state governments indiscriminately, and to subvert their rights and the rights of their citizens. To oppose these, and to procure their alteration, is equally the interest of every state in the union. The introduction of these parts of the system must not be attributed to the jarring interests of states, but to a very different source, the pride, the ambition and the interest of individuals. This being the case, we may be enabled to form some judgment of the probability of obtaining a safe and proper system, should we have firmness and wisdom to reject that which is now offered; and also of the great improbability of procuring any amendments to the present system, if we should weakly and inconsiderately adopt it. The bold and daring attempt that has been made to use, for the total annihilation of the states, that power that was delegated for their preservation, will put the different states on their guard. The votaries of ambition and interest being totally defeated in their attempt to establish themselves on the ruins of the States, which they will be if this Const.i.tution is rejected, an attempt in which they had more probability of success from the total want of suspicion in their countrymen than they can have hereafter, they will not hazard a second attempt of the same nature, in which they will have much less chance of success; besides, being once discovered they will not be confided in. The true interest and happiness of the states and their citizens will, therefore, most probably be the object which will be princ.i.p.ally sought for by a second Convention, should a second be appointed, which if really aimed at, I cannot think very difficult to accomplish, by giving to the federal government sufficient power for every salutary purpose, while the rights of the states and their citizens should be secure from any imminent danger. But if the arts and influence of ambitious and interested men, even in their present situation, while more on a level with yourselves, and unarmed with any extraordinary powers, should procure you to adopt this system, dangerous as it is admitted to be to your rights, I will appeal to the understanding of every one of you, who will on this occasion give his reason fair play, whether there is not every cause to believe they will, should this government be adopted, with that additional power, consequence and influence it will give them, most easily prevent the necessary alterations which might be wished for, the purpose of which would be directly opposite to their views, and defeat every attempt to procure them. Be a.s.sured, whatever obstacles or difficulties may be at this time in the way of obtaining a proper system of government, they will be increased an hundred fold after this system is adopted. Reflect also, I entreat you, my fellow citizens, that the alterations and amendments which are wanted in the present system are of such a nature as to diminish and lessen, to check and restrain the powers of the general government, not to increase and enlarge those powers. If they were of the last kind, we might safely adopt it, and trust to giving greater powers hereafter, like a physician who administers an emetic ex re nata, giving a moderate dose at first, and increasing it afterwards as the const.i.tution of the patient may require. But I appeal to the history of mankind for this truth, that when once power and authority are delegated to a government, it knows how to keep it, and is sufficiently and successfully fertile in expedients for that purpose. Nay more, the whole history of mankind proves that so far from parting with the powers actually delegated to it, government is constantly encroaching on the small pittance of rights reserved by the people to themselves, and gradually wresting them out of their hands until it either terminates in their slavery or forces them to arms, and brings about a revolution. From these observations it appears to me, my fellow citizens, that nothing can be more weak and absurd than to accept of a system that is admitted to stand in need of immediate amendments to render your rights secure-for remember, if you fail in obtaining them, you cannot free yourselves from the yoke you will have placed on your necks, and servitude must, therefore, be your portion. Let me ask you my fellow citizens what you would think of a physician who, because you were slightly indisposed, should bring you a dose which properly corrected with other ingredients might be a salutary remedy, but of itself was a deadly poison, and with great appearance of friends.h.i.+p and zeal, should advise you to swallow it immediately, and trust to accident for those requisites necessary to qualify its malignity, and prevent its destructive effects?

Would not you reject the advice, in however friendly a manner it might appear to be given, with indignation, and insist that he should first procure, and properly attempt, the necessary ingredients, since after the fatal draught was once received into your bowels, it would be too late should the antidote prove unattainable, and death must ensue. With the same indignation ought you, my fellow citizens, to reject the advice of those political quacks, who under pretence of healing the disorders of our present government, would urge you rashly to gulp down a const.i.tution, which in its present form, unaltered and unamended, would be as certain death to your liberty, as a.r.s.enic could be to your bodies.

LUTHER MARTIN.

_Baltimore, March 25, 1788._

Luther Martin, VI.

The Maryland Journal, (Number 1026)

FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 1788.

Number IV.

TO THE CITIZENS OF MARYLAND.

If those, my fellow citizens, to whom the administration of our government was about to be committed, had sufficient wisdom never to err, and sufficient goodness always to consult the true interest of the governed, and if we could have a proper security that their successors should to the end of time be possessed of the same qualifications, it would be impossible that power could be lavished upon them with too liberal a hand.

Power absolute and unlimited, united with unerring wisdom and unbounded goodness, is the government of the Deity of the universe. But remember, my fellow citizens, that the persons to whom you are about to delegate authority are and will be weak, erring mortals, subject to the same pa.s.sions, prejudices and infirmities with yourselves; and let it be deeply engraven on your hearts, that from the first history of government to the present time, if we begin with Nimrod and trace down the rulers of nations to those who are now invested with supreme power, we shall find few, very few, who have made the beneficent Governor of the universe the model of their conduct, while many are they who, on the contrary, have imitated the demons of the darkness. We have no right to expect that our rulers will be more wise, more virtuous, or more perfect than those of other nations have been, or that they will not be equally under the influence of ambition, avarice and all that train of baleful pa.s.sions, which have so generally proved the curse of our unhappy race. We must consider mankind such as they really are,-such as experience has shown them to be heretofore, and bids us expect to find them hereafter,-and not suffer ourselves to be misled by interested deceivers or enthusiastick visionaries; and therefore in forming a system of government, to delegate no greater power than is clearly and certainly necessary, ought to be the first principle with every people who are influenced by reason and a regard for their safety, and in doing this, they ought most solicitously to endeavour so to qualify even that power, by such checks and restraints, as to produce a perfect responsibility in those who are to exercise it, and prevent them from its abuse with a chance of impunity;-since such is the nature of man, that he has a propensity to abuse authority and to tyrannize over the rights of his fellowmen;-and to whomsoever power is given, not content with the actual deposit, they will ever strive to obtain an increase. Those who would wish to excite and keep awake your jealousy and distrust are your truest friends; while they who speak peace to you when there is no peace-who would lull you into security, and wish you to repose blind confidence in your future governors-are your most dangerous enemies; jealousy and distrust are the guardian angels who watch over liberty-security and confidence are the forerunners of slavery. But the advocates of the system tell you that we who oppose it, endeavour to terrify you with mere possibilities which may never be realized, that all our objections consist in saying government may do this, and government may do that-I will for argument sake admit the justice of this remark, and yet maintain that the objections are insurmountable. I consider it an incontrovertible truth, that whatever by the const.i.tution government even may do, if it relates to the abuse of power by acts tyrannical and oppressive, it some time or other will do. Such is the ambition of man, and his l.u.s.t for domination, that no power less than that which fixed its bounds to the ocean can say to them, "Thus far shall ye go and no farther." Ascertain the limits of the may with ever so much precision, and let them be as extensive as you please, government will speedily reach their utmost verge; nor will it stop there, but soon will overleap those boundaries, and roam at large into the regions of the may not. Those who tell you the government by this const.i.tution may keep up a standing army, abolish the trial by jury, oppress the citizens of the states by its powers over the militia, destroy the freedom of the press, infringe the liberty of conscience, and do a number of other acts injurious and destructive of your rights, yet that it never will do so; and that you safely may accept such a const.i.tution and be perfectly at ease and secure that your rulers will always be so good, so wise, and so virtuous-such emanations of the Deity-that they will never use their power but for your interest and your happiness, contradict the uniform experience of ages, and betray a total ignorance of human nature, or a total want of ingenuity. Look back, my fellow citizens, to your conduct but a few years past, and let that instruct you what ought to be your conduct at this time. Great Britain then claimed the right to pa.s.s laws to bind you in all cases whatever. You were then told in all the soft insinuating language of the present day, and with all the appearance of disinterested friends.h.i.+p now used, that those who insisted this claim of power might be abused, only wandered in the regions of fancy-that you need not be uneasy, but might safely acquiesce in the claim-that you might have the utmost possible confidence in your rulers, that they never would use that power to your injury; but distrustful of government, and jealous of your liberty, you rejected such counsel with disdain; the bare possibility that Britain might abuse it, if once conceded, kindled a flame from one end of this continent to the other, and roused you to arms. Weak and defenseless as you were, unused to military exertions, and unsupplied with warlike stores, you braved the strength of a nation the most powerful and best provided-you chose to risk your lives and property rather than to risque the possibility that the power claimed by the British government should be exercised to your injury-a possibility which the minions of power at that time, with as much confidence as those of the present day, declared to be absolutely visionary. Heaven wrought a miracle in your favour, and your efforts were crowned with success. You are not now called upon to make an equal sacrifice, you are not now requested to beat your ploughshares into swords, or your pruning hooks into spears, to leave your peaceful habitations, and exchange domestic tranquillity for the horrors of war; peaceably, quietly and orderly to give this system of slavery your negative, is all that is asked by the advocates of freedom-to p.r.o.nounce the single monosyllable no, is all they entreat. Shall they entreat you in vain? When by this it is to be determined, whether our independence, for obtaining which we have been accustomed to bow the knee with reverential grat.i.tude to Heaven, shall be our greatest curse; and when on this it depends whether we shall be subject to a government, of which the little finger will be thicker than the loins of that of Great Britain. But there are also persons who pretend that your situation is at present so bad that it cannot be worse, and urge that as an argument why we should embrace any remedy proposed, however desperate it may appear. Thus do the poor erring children of mortality, suffering under the presence of real or imaginary evils, have recourse to a pistol or halter for relief, and rashly launch into the untried regions of eternity-nor wake from this delusion, until they wake in endless woe. Should the citizens of America, in a fit desperation, be induced to commit this fatal act of political suicide, to which by such arguments they are stimulated, the day will come when laboring under more than Egyptian bondage; compelled to finish their quota of brick, though dest.i.tute of straw and of mortar; galled with your chains, and worn down by oppression, you will, by sad experience, be convinced (when that conviction shall be too late), that there is a difference in evils, and that the buzzing of gnats is more supportable than the sting of a serpent. From the wisdom of antiquity we might obtain excellent instruction, if we were not too proud to profit by it. aesop has furnished us with a history of a nation of frogs, between which and our own there is a striking resemblance-whether the catastrophe be the same, rests with ourselves. Jupiter out of pure good nature, wis.h.i.+ng to do them as little injury as possible, on being asked for a king, had thrown down into their pond a log to rule over them;-under whose government, had they been wise enough to know their own interest and to pursue it, they might to this day, have remained happy and prosperous. Terrified with the noise, and affrighted by the violent undulations of the water, they for some time kept an awful distance, and regarded their monarch with reverence; but the first impression being in some measure worn off, and perceiving him to be of a tame and peaceable disposition, they approached him with familiarity, and soon entertained for him the utmost contempt. In a little time were seen the leaders of the frogs croaking to their respective circles on the weakness and feebleness of the government at home, and of its want of dignity and respect abroad, till the sentiment being caught by their auditors, the whole pond resounded with "Oh Jupiter, good Jupiter, hear our prayers! Take away from us this vile log, and give us a ruler who shall know how to support the dignity and splendor of government! Give us any government you please, only let it be energetic and efficient." The Thunderer, in his wrath, sent them a crane. With what delight did they gaze on their monarch, as he came majestically floating on the wings of the wind. They admired his uncommon shape-it was such as they had never before seen-his deformities were, in their eyes, the greatest of beauties, and they were heard like Aristides to declare that, were they on the verge of eternity, they would not wish a single alteration in his form. His monstrous beak, his long neck, and his enormous poke, even these, the future means of their destruction, were subjects of their warm approbation. He took possession of his new dominions, and instantly began to swallow down his subjects, and it is said that those who had been the warmest zealots for crane administration, fared no better than the rest.

The poor wretches were now much more dissatisfied than before, and with all possible humility applied to Jupiter again for his aid, but in vain-he dismissed them with this reproof, "that the evil of which they complained they had foolishly brought upon themselves, and that they had no other remedy now, but to submit with patience." Thus forsaken by the G.o.d, and left to the mercy of the crane, they sought to escape his cruelty by flight; but pursuing them to every place of retreat, and thrusting his long neck through the water to the bottom, he drew them out with his beak from their most secret hiding-places, and served them up as a regale for his ravenous appet.i.te. The present federal government is, my fellow citizens, the log of the fable-the crane is the system now offered to your acceptance-I wish you not to remain under the government of the one, nor to become subjected to the tyranny of the other. If either of these events take place, it must arise from your being greatly deficient to yourselves-from your being, like the nation of Frogs, "a discontented, variable race, weary of liberty and fond of change." At the same time I have no hesitation in declaring, that if the one or the other must be our fate, I think the harmless, inoffensive, though contemptible Log, infinitely to be preferred to the powerful, the efficient, but all-devouring Crane.

LUTHER MARTIN.

_Baltimore, March 29, 1788._

LETTER OF A PLAIN DEALER, ACCREDITED TO SPENCER ROANE.

Printed In The Virginia Independent Chronicle, February, 1788.

Note.

In October, 1787, Governor Edmund Randolph, delegate to the Federal Convention from Virginia, addressed to the Speaker of the House of Delegates a letter on the Federal Const.i.tution. This was published in December, 1787, in both _The Virginia Gazette_ and _The Virginia Independent Chronicle_, as well as in pamphlet form at the time, and recently in Ford's _Pamphlets on the Const.i.tution_. Randolph had declined to give his a.s.sent to the Const.i.tution in the Convention, but had so far altered his views in the intervening period as to make his letter on the whole an argument in favor of rather than against its adoption. Uncertain in exactly what light to regard his utterances, it was one of the few writings of the time which did not receive replies from one party or the other.

The essay of "A Plain Dealer" is the only notice I have found of this letter, and deals rather more with the inconsistencies of Randolph's views, than with the arguments advanced in the letter. Of the author, Randolph himself gives us a clue in his letter to Madison, of February 29, 1788, where he writes:

A writer calling himself Plain Dealer, who is bitter in principle _vs._ the Const.i.tution, has attacked me in the paper. I suspect the author to be Mr. Spencer Roane; and the importunities of some to me in public and private are designed to throw me unequivocally and without condition into the opposition.

A Plain Dealer.

The Virginia Independent Chronicle, (Number 82)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1788.

_Mans parturiens et ecce nascitur mus._

After a long and general expectancy of some dissertation on the subject of the proposed Federal Const.i.tution, worthy the first magistrate of the respectable state of Virginia, a letter of his Excellency Governor Randolph, of Oct. 10, 1787, is at length presented to the public. Previous to the appearance of this letter, various opinions were prevailing in different parts of this country respecting that gentleman's _real_ opinion on the subject of the said Const.i.tution; and it became difficult for many to conjecture how his Excellency would devise a middle course, so as to catch the spirit of all his countrymen, and to reconcile himself to all parties. It was not known to me, at least, that his Excellency felt an "unwillingness to disturb the harmony of the legislature" on this important subject; nor could I conceive that the sentiments of even the ablest man among us could "excite a contest unfavorable" to the fairest discussion of the question. On the other hand, I thought it right that the adversaries of the Const.i.tution, as well as its framers, should candidly avow their real sentiments as early and decidedly as possible, for the information of those who are to determine. It is true, his Excellency was prevented declaring his opinion sooner, "by motives of delicacy arising from two questions depending before the General a.s.sembly, one respecting the Const.i.tution, the other respecting himself;" but I am of opinion that during the pendency of a question concerning the Const.i.tution, every information on that subject is most properly to be adduced; and I did not know that the being or not being Governor of Virginia, (an office in a great degree nominal) was sufficient to deter a real patriot from speaking the warning voice of opposition, in behalf of the liberties of his country.

The letter above-mentioned can derive no aid from panegyric, as to the brilliancy and elegance of its stile, for unlike the threadbare discourses of other statesmen on the dry subject of government, it amuses us with a number of fine words. But how shall I express my dislike of the ultimatum of his Excellency's letter, wherein he declares "that if after our best efforts for amendments, they cannot be obtained, he will adopt the Const.i.tution as it is." How is this declaration reconcilable to a former opinion of his Excellency's, expressed to the Honorable Richard Henry Lee, and repeated by the latter gentleman in his letter,(62) as printed in the public papers, "that either a monarchy or an aristocracy will be generated from the proposed Const.i.tution." Good G.o.d! how can the first Magistrate and Father of a free republican government, after a feeble parade of opposition, and before his desired plan of amendments has been determined upon, declare that he will accept a Const.i.tution which is to beget a monarchy or an aristocracy? How can such a determination be reconcilable to the feelings of Virginia, and to the principles which have prevailed in almost every legislature of the union, who looked no farther than the amendment of our present republican confederation? I have charity to believe that the respectable characters who signed this Const.i.tution did so, thinking that neither a monarchy nor an aristocracy would ensue, but that they should thereby preserve and ameliorate the republic of America; but never until now, that his Excellency has let the cat out of the bag, did I suppose that any member of the Convention, at least from the republican state of Virginia, would accept a Const.i.tution, whereby the republic of his const.i.tuents is to be sacrificed in its infancy, and before it has had a fair trial. But his Excellency will adopt this Const.i.tution, "BECAUSE HE WOULD REGULATE HIMSELF BY THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA." But is his Excellency a prophet as well as a politician-can he foretell future events? How else can he at this time discover what the spirit of America is? But admitting his infallibility for a moment, how far will his principle carry him?-why, that if the dominion of Shays, instead of that of the new Const.i.tution, should be generally accepted, and become the spirit of America, his Excellency, too, would turn Shayite!-and yet this question of the Const.i.tution, is "ONE ON WHICH THE FATE OF THOUSANDS YET UNBORN DEPENDS." It is his Excellency's opinion, as expressed in the aforesaid letter, that the powers which are acknowledged necessary for supporting the Union, cannot safely be entrusted to our Congress as at present const.i.tuted; and his vain objection is "that the representation of the states bears no proportion to their importance."

This is literally true; but is equally true of the Senate of the proposed Const.i.tution, which is to be an essential part of the legislature; and yet his Excellency will accept the latter, and not agree to invest the necessary powers in the former, although the above objection equally applies to both. Nay, I am inclined to believe that the injurious consequences of this unequal representation will operate more strongly under the new government-for under the present confederation the members of Congress are removable at the pleasure of their const.i.tuents;-whereas under the proposed Const.i.tution, the only method of removing a wicked, unskilful or treacherous senator, will be by impeachment before the senate itself, of which he is a member.

These, Mr. Printer, are some of the inconsistencies which even a slight observation of the above letter will suggest. It is not my purpose to oppose now, or to investigate, the merits of the Const.i.tution. This I leave to abler pens, and to the common sense of my countrymen. The science of government is _in itself_ simple and plain; and if in the history of mankind no perfect government can be found, let it be attributed to the chicane, perfidy and ambition of those who fabricate them; and who are more or less, in common with all mankind, infected with a l.u.s.t of power.

It is, however, certainly not consistent with sound sense to accept a Const.i.tution, knowing it to be imperfect; and his Excellency acknowledges the proposed one to have radical objections. A Const.i.tution ought to be like Caesar's wife, not only good, but unsuspected, since it is the highest compact which men are capable of forming, and involves the dearest rights of life, liberty and property. I fear his Excellency has done no service to his favorite scheme of amendments (and he too seems to be of the same opinion) by his very candid declaration at the end of his letter. Subtlety and chicane in politics, are equally odious and dishonorable; but when it is considered that the present is not the golden age-the epoch of virtue, candor and integrity-that the views of ambitious and designing men are continually working to their own aggrandizement and to the overthrow of liberty, and that the discordant interests of thirteen different commonwealths are to be reconciled and promoted by one general government; common reason will teach us that the utmost caution, secrecy, and political sagacity is requisite to secure to each the important blessings of a good government.

I shall now take my leave of his Excellency and the above-mentioned letter, declaring my highest veneration for his character and abilities; and it can be no impeachment of the talents of any man who has not served a regular apprentices.h.i.+p to politics, to say, that his opinions on an intricate political question are erroneous. For if, as the celebrated Dr.

Blackstone observes, "in every art, occupation, or science, commercial or mechanical, some method of instruction or apprentices.h.i.+p is held necessary, how much more requisite will such apprentices.h.i.+p be found to be, in the science of government, the n.o.blest and most difficult of any!"

A PLAIN DEALER.