leading measures of general legislation during the war and after its close; his position as a prominent member of the General Convention that framed the Constitution, which had been adopted under his solemn protest, and his well-known resolve to oppose the ratification with all his acknowledged abilities, were calculated to arrest attention. He was sixty-two years old, and had not been more than twelve years continuously in the public councils, 83 but from his entrance into public life he was confessedly the first man in every assembly of which he was a member, though rarely seen on the floor except on great occasions. But the interest with which he was now watched was heightened by another cause. From his lips was anxiously awaited by all parties the programme of the war which was to be waged against the new system. He rose to a matter of form. I hope and trust," he said, "that this Convention, appointed by the people, on this great occasion, for securing, as far as possible, to the latest generations their happiness and liberty, will freely and fully investigate this important subject. For this purpose I humbly conceive the fullest and clearest investigation indispensably necessary, and that we ought not to be bound by any general rules whatsoever. The curse denounced by the Divine vengeance will be small, compared with what will justly fall on us, if from any sinister views we obstruct the fullest inquiry. This subject ought, therefore, to obtain the fullest discussion, clause by clause, before any general previous question be put, nor ought it to be precluded by any other question." Tyler then moved that the Convention should resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to take into consideration the proposed plan of government, in order to have a fairer opportunity of examining its merits. Mason rose again, and after recapitulating his reasons urging a full discussion, clause by clause, concluded by giving his consent to the motion made by Tyler. Madison concurred with Mason in going into a full and free investigation of the subject before them, and said that he had no objection to the plan proposed. Mason then reduced to writing his motion, which was adopted by the House.

83 Colonel Mason was a member of the House of Burgesses as early as 1758, with Pendleton and Wythe; but did not adopt the favorite custom in the Colony of holding a seat for a series of years. Even during the past twelve years he was not always a member.

Tyler moved that the Convention resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole the next day to take the plan of government under consideration, but was opposed by Henry Lee, of Westmoreland, who urged the propriety of entering into the discussion at once. Mason rose to sustain the motion of Tyler, and pressed the impolicy of running precipitately into the discussion of a great measure, when the Convention was not in possession of the proper means. He was sustained by Benjamin Harrison, and the debate was closed by a rejoinder from Lee. The motion of Tyler prevailed, and it was resolved "that this Convention will to-morrow resolve itself into a committee of the whole Convention, to take into consideration the proposed Constitution of Government of the United States."

9984

But, if the motion of Mason was acceptable to his opponents, it was especially distasteful to his friends. It had been foreseen that there would be some confusion among the opponents of the Constitution in respect of the line of policy to be pursued in the outset of the campaign. Mason had been a member of the General Convention, had met in conclave with the Virginia delegation in Philadelphia, and had not offered any opposition to the resolutions which were approved by the delegation, which were proposed by Randolph to the General Convention as its basis of action, and which clearly looked to an overthrow of the existing Federal system. He could not consequently take the ground which his colleagues in opposition, Henry in particular, thought most available, of protesting against the usurpation of a body, which, charged with the office of proposing amendments to the

84 It is interesting to see how often history repeats itself. The main argument of Lee for hastening a discussion, was that the General Assembly, in whose hall the Convention was sitting, would meet on the 23d of the month; and as the Convention did not adjourn till the 27th, the two bodies were in session at the same time. The Convention of 1829-30, also ran into the meeting of the General Assembly, and the two bodies sate at the same time for a month and a half. As in both Conventions there were members who were also members of the Assembly, and, as such, were entitled to double pay, it would be curious to look over the old rolls and see who took and did not take double allowance. Of the members of the Convention of 1829-30 who were in the Assembly, though they really had double duty to perform in earnest, I do not know that more than one member received double pay, albeit it was unquestionably due.

existing government, had recommended an entirely new government in its stead. He may, however, have deemed the Act of Assembly convoking the present Convention as a substantial endorsement of the Act of the General Convention; and with his usual sagacity may have thought it prudent, apart from any personal feeling in the case, to arrest a contest which he foresaw would result in the defeat of his friends. At this late day, uninfluenced by the excitement of the times, we are able to appreciate the tactics of the divisions of the anti-Federal party at their proper value. The main object of Mason was to prevent a premature committal of the House by a vote on any separate part of the Constitution; for he well knew that an approval of one part would be urged argumentatively to obtain the approval of another part, and that, if the Constitution were approved in detail, it would be approved as a whole; and so far as his motion postponed intermediate voting, it was wise and well-timed. But in requiring the Constitution to be discussed clause by clause, he went beyond his legitimate purpose, and played into the hands of his opponents. The Federal Constitution, to be opposed successfully, must be discussed on the ground either of its unfitness as a whole to attain the end of its creation, or on the dangerous tendency of its various provisions. To preclude the debate on the first head, and to narrow the debate on the second to the consideration of a single clause, was almost to resign the benefits of discussion to the friends of the system. The resolution was capable of being wielded with fatal effect, and, if enforced by a skillful and stern parliamentarian, would have effectually prevented all freedom of debate. The anti-Federalists believed that the Constitution in its general scope was false to liberty; yet, by the resolution, they were to be strictly confined to a discussion, not of its general tendency, but of the tendency of a particular clause. Now, it is barely possible that a single provision of a vast system, when defended at length by an able hand, cannot be made to assume a plausible shape in the eyes of a mixed assembly. Either its obvious meaning will be denied, or an equivocal one will be attached to its terms. The Federalists were aware of the advantages of such a warfare, and hence the readiness with which Madison rose to accept the proposal. Indeed, it is

85

85 Madison wrote on the 4th to Washington a letter, of which the

a topic of interest now to observe how often the dogged pertinacity of George Nicholas and Madison, who acted the part of whippers-in during the discussion, was rebuked by the indignant eloquence of Mason and Henry.86 It is true that the timely movement of Tyler in transferring the debate from the House to the Committee of the Whole in some measure counteracted the ill effects of Mason's motion; but its evil influence was sensibly felt by his friends throughout the session.

87

The opening of the session on the third day was awaited by a large assemblage. Every seat was filled, while hundreds of respectable persons remained standing in the passages and at the doors. Among the spectators from every part of the Commonwealth were young men of promise, eager to behold the statesmen who had long served their country with distinction, whose names were connected with every important civil and military event of the Revolution; and some of whom were to be seen now for the last time in a public body, and must in the order of nature soon pass away. It is not unworthy of remark, as an illustration of the effects wrought by the exhibition of genius and talents on great occasions, that some of those young men who were so intently watching the progress of the debates, as if touched by the inspiration of the scene, were themselves to lead the deliberations of public bodies and to control the councils of the State and of the Union for more than the third of a century

following is an extract: "I found, contrary to my expectations, that not a very full House had been made on the first day, but that it had proceeded to the appointment of the president and other officers. Mr. Pendleton was put into the chair without opposition. Yesterday little more was done than settling some forms, and resolving that no question, general or particular, should be propounded till the whole plan should be considered and debated clause by clause. This was moved by Colonel Mason, and, contrary to his expectations, concurred in by the other side." Madison to General Washington, Writings of Washington, IX, 370, note.

86 Robertson's Debates, page 36, et passim. I use Robertson's Debates, edition of 1805; the handsome edition of the Debates following the entire third volume of Elliott, published in 1859 under the sanction of Congress, not having then appeared.

87 Wednesday, June 4, 1788.

88 No such thing as a published speech was then known in the coun

It was the general expectation that Henry would open the debate on the part of the opponents of the Constitution; but those who knew the conflicting positions held by Mason and himself, and had watched him closely on the preceding day, anticipated a skirmish before the regular debate began; and in this expectation they were not disappointed. When the House had received and acted upon the reports of the Committee of Elections, the order of the day was read, and the Convention went into Committee of the Whole. Wythe was called to the chair. Next to Pendleton, his fame as a jurist and a statesman had been more widely diffused at home and abroad than that of any other member. He had been longest in the public service; had long been a member of the House of Burgesses, which he entered as early as 1758; had been the intimate and confidential

try, and the only means of forming an opinion of the powers of a public man was to hear him speak. Brief and imperfect as Robertson's Debates are, they present the fullest report of speeches then known in our annals. Hence, the clever young men of the State crowded to Richmond, all of them on horseback. William B. Giles was among the spectators.

89

I have never met with an instance in our parliamentary proceedings of the election of the chairman of the Committee of the Whole by the House. In the House of Burgesses the chairman, as the name implies, literally sate in a chair, none but the Speaker, who had been approved by the Governor, and was in some sense the representative of majesty, occupying the Speaker's seat. In Committee of the Whole, the mace, which was always placed on the clerk's table in regular session, was put under the table. I confess that I have not been able to trace satisfactorily the fate of the mace of the House of Burgesses. I have been told that it was melted at some date later than 1790. There was a member of the Senate from one of the tidewater counties who made great efforts to get a mace from the Senate. The city of Norfolk still possesses its ancient silver mace presented to the corporation by Governor Gooch in 1736 or thereabouts. This mace, of which a description and a cut is given in The Dinwiddie Papers, Vol. I (Virginia Historical Collections, Vol. III), pp. xiv, xv, was 'The gift of Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, to the corporation of Norfolk, 1753." For notice of further examples of the mace in Virginia and other British-American colonies, see the same note. The mace of the House of Burgesses, which was by purchase saved from the "smelter's pot" by Colonel William Heth, who transformed it into a drinking cup, is now in the possession of his grand nephew, Harry Heth, late Major-General C. S. Army.—ED.