The main question was then put, that the Convention agree with the committee on the said first resolution-the resolution of ratification—and was carried in a house of one hundred and sixty-eight members by ten votes.

264

bert Williams, John Wilson, of Pottsylvania, Thomas Turpin, Patrick Henry, Robert Lawson, Edmund Ruffin, Theodrick Bland, William Grayson, Cuthbert Bullitt, Thomas Carter, Henry Dickenson, James Monroe, John Dawson, George Mason, Andrew Buchanan, John Howell Briggs, Thomas Edmunds, the Hon. Richard Cary, Samuel Edmonson, and James Montgomery-8o.

NOES: The Hon. Edmund Pendleton, president, George Parker, George Nicholas, Wilson Nicholas, Zachariah Johnston, Archibald Stuart, William Darke, Adam Stephen, Martin McFerran, William Fleming, James Taylor, of Caroline, the Hon. Paul Carrington, Miles King, Worlick Westwood, David Stuart, Charles Simms, Humphrey Marshall, Martin Pickett, Humphrey Brooke, John S. Woodcock, Alexander White, Warner Lewis, Thomas Smith, George Clendenin, John Stuart, William Mason, Daniel Fisher, Andrew Woodrow, Ralph Humphreys, George Jackson, John Prunty, Isaac Vanmeter, Abel Seymour, His Excellency Governor Randolph, John Marshall, Nathaniel Burwell, Robert Andrews, James Johnson, Robert Breckenridge, Rice Bullock, William Fleet, Burdet Ashton, William Thornton, James Gordon, of Lancaster, Henry Towles, Levin Powell, Wm. O. Callis, Ralph Wormley, junior, Francis Corbin, William McClerry, Wills Riddick, Solomon Shepherd, William Clayton, Burwell Bassett, James Webb, James Taylor, of Norfolk, John Stringer, Littleton Eyre, Walter Jones, Thomas Gaskins, Archibald Wood, Ebenezer Zane, James Madison, James Gordon, of Orange, William Ronald, Anthony Walke, Thomas Walke, Benj. Wilson, John Wilson, of Randolph, Walker Tomlin, William Peachy, William McKee, Andrew Moore, Thomas Lewis, Gabriel Jones, Jacob Rinker, John Williams, Benj. Blunt, Samuel Kello, John Hartwell Cocke, John Allen, Cole Digges, Henry Lee, of Westmoreland, Bushrod Washington, the Hon. John Blair, the Hon. George Wythe, James Innes, and Thomas Mathews-88.

264 The ayes and noes, ordered on motion of George Mason, seconded by Henry, were ayes 89, noes 79, as follows:

AYES: The Hon. Edmund Pendleton, president, George Parker, George Nicholas, Wilson Nicholas, Zach. Johnston, A. Stuart, W. Darke, A. Stephen, M. McFerran, W. Fleming, Jas. Taylor, of Caroline, the Hon. P. Carrington, D. Patteson, M. King, W. Westwood, D. Stuart, C. Simms, H. Marshall, M. Pickett, H. Brooke, J. S. Woodcock, A. White, W Lewis, T Smith, G. Clendenin, J. Stuart, W. Mason, D. Fisher, A. Woodrow, R. Humphreys, G. Jackson, John Prunty, I. Vanmeter, A. Seymour, His Excellency Governor Randolph, J. Marshall, N. Burwell, R. Andrews, J. Johnson, R. Breckenridge, Rice Bullock, W Fleet, B.

When the vote was announced from the chair, and when it appeared that the long and arduous contest had been at last decided in favor of the new system, there was no show of triumph or exultation on the part of its friends. A great victory had been achieved by them; but it was impossible to say that the Constitution was yet safe. It was carried by a meagre majority; and it was carried, it was believed by those who had the control of the Assembly, in plain opposition to the wishes of the people; the Legislature might yet interpose obstacles to the organization of the government, and might virtually annul, for some time at least, the ratification which had been so dearly won. The vote which we shall soon record, attests in the strongest manner the desire for conciliation which governed the conduct of the friends of the Constitution.

The second resolution having been amended by striking out the preamble, was then agreed to by a silent vote."

Ashton, W. Thornton, J. Gordon, of Lancaster, H. Towles, L. Powell, W. O. Callis, R. Wormeley, junior, F. Corbin, Wil. McClerry, W. Riddick, S. Shepherd, W. Clayton, B. Bassett, J. Webb, J. Taylor, of Norfolk, J. Stringer, L. Eyre, W. Jones, T. Gaskins, A. Woods, E. Zane, James Madison, J. Gordon, of Orange, W. Ronald. A. Walke, T. Walke, B. Wilson, J. Wilson, of Randolph, W. Tomlin, W. Peachy, W. McKee, A. Moore, T. Lewis, G. Jones, J Rinker, J. Williams, B. Blunt, S. Kello, J. H. Cocke, J. Allen, C. Digges, H. Lee, of Westmoreland, B Washington, the Hon. J. Blair, the Hon. G. Wythe, J. Innes, and T. Mathews-89.

NOES: E Custis, J. Pride, E. Booker, W. Cabell, S. J. Cabell, J. Trigg, C. Clay, H. Lee, of Bourbon, the Hon. J. Jones, B. Jones, C. Patteson, D. Bell, R. Alexander, E. Winston, T. Read, B. Harrison, the Hon. J. Tyler, S. Pankey, Jr., J. Michaux, T. H. Drew, F. Strother, Joel Early, J. Jones, W. Watkins, M. Smith, J. Upshaw, J. Fowler, S. Richardson, J. Haden, John Early, T. Arthur, J. Guerrant, W. Sampson, I. Coles, G. Carrington, P. Goodall, J. C. Littlepage, T. Cooper, J. Mann, T. Roane, H. Richeson, B. Temple, S. T. Mason, W. White, Jona. Patteson, C. Robertson, J. Logan, H. Pawling, J. Miller, G. Clay, S. Hopkins, R. Kennon, T. Allen, A. Robertson, J. Evans, W. Crockett, A. Trigg, M. Walton, J. Steele, R. Williams, John Wilson, of Pottsylvania, F. Turpin, P. Henry, R. Lawson, E. Ruffin, T. Bland, W. Grayson, C. Bullitt, T. Carter, H. Dickenson, James Monroe, J. Dawson, Geo. Mason, A. Buchanan, J. H. Briggs, T. Edmunds, the Hon. Richard Cary, S. Edmonson, and James Montgomery-79.

265 The vote on striking out the first resolution, and inserting the amendment in its stead, was the test vote, and was lost by eight votes. A change, therefore, of four of the votes of the majority would have

A committee was then appointed to prepare and report a form of ratification, and Randolph, George Nicholas, Madison, Marshall, and Corbin were placed upon it.260 A committee was also appointed "to prepare and report such amendments as shall by them be deemed necessary to be recommended in pursuance of the second resolution," and consisted of Wythe, Harrison, Mathews, Henry, Randolph, George Mason, Nicholas, Grayson, Madison, Tyler, Marshall, Monroe, Ronald, Bland, Meriwether Smith, Paul Carrington, Innes, Hopkins, John Blair, and Simms. Randolph immediately reported a form of ratification, which was read and agreed to without debate; and is as follows:

"We, the Delegates of the People of Virginia, duly elected in pursuance of a recommendation from the General Assembly, and now met in Convention, having fully and freely investigated and discussed the proceedings of the Federal Convention, and being prepared, as well as the most mature deliberation hath enabled us, to decide thereon, Do, in the name and in the behalf of the People of Virginia, declare and make known, that the powers granted under the Constitution being derived from, the People

made a tie, and a single additional vote would have settled the fate of the Constitution for that time. Had Moore and McKee obeyed their instructions, and had Stuart, of Augusta, remained at home at the time of the Botetourt election, instead of using his influence effectually on the ground in favor of the Constitution, and of causing the Botetourt candidates to pledge themselves to sustain that system; and had Paul Carrington voted with his colleague, Read, in favor of it, those five votes would have been forthcoming. That some of the delegates voted in opposition to the wishes of their constituents was well known at the time.

266 This was an able committee, but a grave objection exists against it that it did not contain the name of an opponent of the Constitution. I am reminded by the names of Madison and Marshall of the fact that those two gentlemen were appointed to a similar committee in a similar body forty years afterwards. On the adjournment of that body, I walked home to our lodgings in the Eagle Tavern with the president, the late Philip Pendleton Barbour, and by the way asked him if he had been in the chair at a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, could he have selected such a committee, when he answered without hesitation, "No, nor from the Union at large." That committee consisted of Madison, Marshall, Tazewell, Doddridge, Leigh, Johnson, and Cooke; one from the tidewater country, two from above tide, two from the Valley, and one from the extreme west.

of the United States, may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression, and that every power not granted thereby remains with them, and at their will; that therefore, no right of any denomination can be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified by the Congress, by the Senate or House of Representatives acting in any capacity, by the President, or any department, or officer of the United States, except in those instances in which power is given by the Constitution for those purposes; and that among other essential rights, the liberty of conscience and of the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified, by any authority of the United States.

"With these impressions, with a solemn appeal to the searcher of hearts for the purity of our intentions, and under the conviction that whatsoever imperfections may exist in the Constitution, ought rather to be examined in the mode prescribed therein, than to bring the Union into danger by a delay, with a hope of obtaining amendments previous to the ratification:

"We, the said Delegates, in the name and in behalf of the People of Virginia, do, by these presents, assent to, and ratify the Constitution, recommended on the seventeenth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, by the Federal Convention for the government of the United States, hereby announcing to all those whom it may concern, that the said Constitution is binding upon the said People, according to an authentic copy hereto annexed, in the words following:" (See the Constitution in the Appendix.)

99267

The Convention then ordered two fair copies of the form of ratification and of the Constitution to be engrossed forthwith, and adjourned to the next day at twelve o'clock.

267 The form of ratification has been usually attributed to the pen of Madison; but I am compelled to give up this opinion, which was common thirty years ago. It is but an enlargement of the preamble offered by Wythe, and doubtless from internal evidence written by him. That preamble is not such as in my opinion Madison or Randolph would have drawn, and is very properly amended in a vital part in the form of ratification. As Randolph was chairman of the committee which reported the form, and was a critical writer, and as the form was mainly an enlargement of the preamble presented by Wythe, the safer conjecture is that its merit belongs jointly to Randolph and Wythe.

On Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of June, at twelve o'clock, the Convention met, and, one copy only of the form of ratification having as yet been transcribed, it was read by the clerk, was signed by the president on behalf of the Convention, and was ordered "to be transmitted by the president to the United States in Congress assembled. As the Committee on Amendments had not yet completed its schedule, the House, after making certain allowances to its officers for services rendered during the session, adjourned until the next day at ten o'clock. 269

268

On Friday, the twenty-seventh day of June, the Convention met for the last time. The session, which had lasted during twenty-five eventful days, was to close with the adjournment of that day. Nor was the public anxiety less intense than at an earlier stage of the proceedings. The hall of the Academy was crowded. Several of the members of the select committee, who happened to be late, could with difficulty force their way to their seats. It was certain that, unless the proposed amendments were acceptable to the minority, the worst results were yet to be apprehended. The members of that minority, who, in a house of one hundred and seventy members, were only ten less than the majority, and who, in all those qualities necessary for the guidance of men in a great crisis, were certainly not inferior to their opponents, might proceed to organize, and to digest a plan of operations, the effect of which would certainly be, in the first instance, to prevent all participation by Virginia in setting up the new government, and might ultimately end in the organization of a Southern confederacy. 270 Fortunately the friends of the

268 That is, to the Congress of the Confederation, which held its sittings in New York, and "which determined on the 13th of September, 1788, under the resolutions of the General Convention, that the Constitution had been established, and that it should go into operation on the first Wednesday of March (the fourth), 1789."

269 The president was allowed forty shillings per day, Virginia currency, for his pay; the secretary, forty pounds in full; the chaplain, thirty pounds; the sergeant, twenty-four pounds; each door-keeper, fifteen pounds.

270 It is proper to remind the reader, what has been said before, that our greatest statesmen, to their dying day, believed that they had been trapped in calling the general Federal Convention, and that they distrusted

the military gentlemen," as George Mason called them, into