USA > New York > New York City > Recollections of persons and events, chiefly in the city of New York; being selections from his journal > Part 15
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'It cannot be deemed strange that I should feel a strong solicitude concerning our duties and prospects as a Christian city. Nearly fifty-eight years have passed since I commenced my work as
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a preacher of the Gospel, and New York has been from first to last the scene of my labors. It would be an offence, both against God and my own feelings, if the future of a place where my whole public life has been spent should not be made the subject of deep concern. I have lived to see my fathers and brethren one after another pass away to their reward, until, so far as I know, I am the sole survivor of those who belonged to the ministry in our city when I entered it. Men "whose praise is in all the Churches," as Livingston, Abeel, Mc- Murray, Milledoler, Brodhead, Rodgers, Mason, McLeod, Miller, Romeyn, Moore, Hobart, Lyell, Wainwright, Anthon, Williams, Cone, Bangs, and others, are all gone; and, as if standing at their hallowed graves, and speaking in their honored names, had I a voice that could reach every Church of every name in the midst of us, I would entreat them to remember that we are "a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid;" and that the admo- nition is addressed to us with a significance that should lead us to ponder it carefully, "Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it ; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
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I rejoice to believe that the prospect is bright- ened with earnests which may give us strong hope for the future. One of the most cheering among them is found in the spirit now animating the ministers of the Gospel, all the more encouraging too, because so plainly to be seen among the younger members of the profession, who of course may be expected to be longest in the service.
I am far from anticipating evil from the change which, as all must admit, has taken place in the ministrations of our pulpits. Every age in the Church has its appropriate work, and the ministry given to her by her divine Head will be suited to the work which he has then given her to do. There are periods when she is specially called to contend against some alarming heresy. Her Lord then qualifies her ministry with gifts adapted to the vindication of His truth. There are times, again, when she needs an enlarged zeal for spreading abroad the Word of Life to those who are perishing through lack of knowledge. He then anoints her ministry with a spirit which may arouse her to feel her responsibility as the Light of the world; and here, as I conceive, lies the chief feature of the change which the pulpit
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among us has undergone. If it shows less of the power to demolish error, it has more of the spirit- stirring tone that excites the zeal of the Christian to labor for the spread of the Saviour's kingdom both at home and abroad.
Our venerated Clergy who have finished their course and kept the faith, have done their work, and have done it well; but highly as we may respect their memories, and grateful as we may feel for the services they have rendered to the cause of truth, I do not think the Churches of the city ever possessed a ministry better qualified for the work of their day than they now enjoy.
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CHAPTER XIV.
INTERVIEW BETWEEN REV. DR. RODGERS AND GENERAL HAMILTON. -- CONVENTION TO FRAME THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES .- PERPLEXITIES ATTENDING THEIR DELIBERATIONS .- ERRONEOUS STATEMENT OF THEIR PROCEEDINGS ON DR. FRANK- LIN'S MOTION TO APPOINT A CHAPLAIN .- TRUE ACCOUNT IN THE MADISON PAPERS .- FORGETFULNESS OF GOD, WITH SELF- EXALTATION, A PREVALENT SIN OF THE NATION .- THE SIN RE- BUKED IN THE PRESENT NATIONAL TROUBLES .- STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL SOVEREIGNTY, AS EXHIBITED IN THE LETTERS OF GENERAL WASHINGTON .- MORAL CONSIDERATIONS WHICH SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUTURE PEACE AND HARMONY OF THE NATION.
IT is said that when General Hamilton returned from meeting the Convention in 1787, at which the Constitution of the United States was adopted, he was met by Rev. Dr. Rodgers, and, referring to the Convention and its deliberations, he asked the Doctor how he liked the Constitution.
The Doctor answered, "Not so well as I hoped I should like it, General. It has this great defect. The name of God is not mentioned in it, nor is He acknowledged as Governor among the nations, from first to last in the paper."
" I declare," said General Hamilton, with much
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earnestness, " I declare we forgot it, and much do I regret that it should have been so."
And ever since his day, thousands and thou- sands of our countrymen have regretted the same thing, and have wondered how 'a body of men comprising so much ability and excellence could have committed such an oversight.
There is another incident connected with the proceedings of the Convention, which partakes of the same character, and awakened the regrets of several members of the body while yet in session. It has been described in so many different ways, and is in itself an event of so much interest in our early history, that I have taken the pains to ascer- tain the facts, and to make a record of them as they actually occurred. The occasion is referred to by a writer whose spirited and graphic description must interest the reader, though some of his statements are the result of mistake. He states that he had- received his information from General Dayton, of New Jersey, whom he represents as saying :
"I was a delegate from New Jersey in the General Convention which assembled in Philadel- phia, for the purpose of digesting a Constitution for the United States, and I believe I was the
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youngest member of that body. The great and good Washington was then our President, and Dr. Franklin, among other great men, was a delegate from Pennsylvania. A disposition was soon dis- covered in some members to display themselves in oratorical flourishes-but the good sense and discretion of the majority put down all such attempts. We had convened to deliberate upon, and if possible effect, a great national object-to search for political wisdom and truth; these we meant to pursue with simplicity, and to avoid every thing which would have a tendency to divert our attention or perplex our scheme.
" A great variety of projects were proposed- all republican in general outlines, but differing in their details. It was therefore determined that certain elementary principles should at the first be established in each branch of the intended Con- stitution, and afterwards the details should be debated and filled up.
" There was little or no difficulty in determin- ing upon the elementary principles; such as, for instance, that the government should be a repub- lican representative government ; that it should be divided into three branches, that is, Legislative,
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Executive, and Judicial, &c. But when the organi- zation of the Legislative branch came under con- sideration, it was easy to be perceived that the Eastern and Southern States had distinct interests, which it was difficult to reconcile; and that the larger States were disposed to form a Constitution in which the smaller States would be mere appen- dages and satellites to the larger ones. On the first of these subjects much animated and some- what angry debate had taken place, when the ratio of representation in the lower house of Congress was before us; the Southern States claim- ing for themselves the whole number of black population, while the Eastern States were for confining the elective franchise to freemen only, without respect to color.
" As the different parties adhered pertinaciously to their different positions, it was feared that this would prove an insurmountable obstacle; but as the members were already generally satisfied that no Constitution could be formed, which would meet the views and subserve the interests of each individ- ual State, it was evident that it must be a matter of compromise and mutual concession. Under these impressions, and with these views, it was
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agreed at length that each State should be entitled to one delegate in the House of Representatives for every thirty thousand of its inhabitants ; in which number should be included three fifths of the whole number of their slaves.
" When the details of the House of Represen- tatives were disposed of, a more knotty point presented itself in the organization of the Senate. The larger States contended that the same ratio as to States should be common to both branches of the Legislature; or, in other words, that each State should be entitled to a representation in the Senate (whatever might be the number fixed on) in proportion to its population, as in the House of Representatives. The smaller States, on the other hand, contended that the House of Repre- sentatives might be considered as the guardian of the liberties of the people, and therefore ought to have a `just proportion to their numbers ; but that the Senate represented the sovereignty of the States, and that as each State, whether great or small, was equally an independent and sovereign State, it ought in this branch of the Legislature to have equal weight and authority. Without this, they said, there would be no security for their
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rights, and they would, by such a distribution of power, be merged and lost in the larger States.
"This reasoning, however plain and powerful, had but little influence on the minds of the dele- gates from the larger States; and as they formed a large majority of the Convention, the question, after passing through the forms of debate, was decided that each State should be represented in the Senate in proportion to its population.
" When the Convention had adjourned over to the next day, the delegates of the four smallest States, viz., Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware, convened to consult what course was to be pursued in the important crisis at which we had arrived. After serious investigation, it was solemnly determined to ask for a reconsidera- tion the next morning; and if it was not granted, or if, when granted, that offensive feature of the Constitution could not be expunged, and the smaller States put upon an equal footing with the largest, we would secede from the Convention; and, returning to our constituents, inform them that no compact could be formed with the large States, but one which would sacrifice our sovereignty and independence.
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"I was deputed to be the organ through which this communication should be made; I know not why, unless it be that young men are generally chosen to perform rash actions. Accordingly, when the Convention had assembled, and as soon as the minutes of the last sitting were read, I rose, and stated the view we had taken of the organiza- tion of the Senate, our desire to obtain a recon- sideration and suitable modification of that article, and in failure thereof, our determination to secede from the Convention, and return to our constit- uents.
"This disclosure, it may readily be supposed, produced an immediate and great excitement in every part of the house. Several members were immediately on the floor, to express their surprise or indignation. They represented that the que - tion had received a full and fair investigation, and had been definitively settled by a very large majority; that it was altogether unparliamentary and unreasonable for one of the minority to pro- pose a reconsideration at the moment their act had become a matter of record, and without . pretending that any new light could be thrown on the subject ; that if such a precedent should
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be established, it would in future be impossible to say when any one point was distinctly settled, as a small minority might at any moment, again and again, move and obtain a reconsideration. They therefore hoped the Convention would ex- press its decided disapprobation by passing silently to the business before them.
" There was much warm and some acrimonious feeling exhibited by a number of the speakers ; a rupture appeared almost inevitable, and the bosom of Washington seemed to labor with the most anxious solicitude for the issue. Happily for the United States, the Convention contained some individuals possessed of talents and virtues of the highest order, whose hearts were deeply interested in the establishment of a new and efficient form of government, and whose penetra- ting minds had already deplored the evils which would spring up in our newly-established republic, should the present attempt to consolidate it prove abortive. Among these personages, the most prom- inent was Doctor Franklin. He was esteemed the Mentor of our body. To a mind naturally strong and capacious, enriched by much reading and the experience of many years, he added a
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manner of communicating his thoughts peculiarly his own, in which simplicity, beauty, and strength, were equally conspicuous. As soon as the angry orators who had preceded him had left an opening, the Doctor rose, evidently impressed with the weight of the subject before them, and the difficulty of managing it successfully. 'We have arrived, Mr. President,' said he, 'at a very momentous and interesting crisis in our deliberations. Hitherto our views have been as harmonious, and our progress as great, as could reasonably have been expected. But now an unlooked-for and formida- ble obstacle is thrown in our way, which threatens to arrest our course, and, if not skilfully removed, to render all our fond hopes of a Constitution abortive. The ground which has been taken by the delegates of the four smallest States was as unexpected by me, and as repugnant to my feelings, as it can be to any other member of this Convention. After what I thought a full and impartial investigation of the subject, I recorded my vote on the affirmative side of the question, and I have not yet heard any thing which induces me to change my opinion. But I will not conclude it is impossible for me to be wrong. I will not say that
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those gentlemen who differ from me are under a delusion ; much less will I charge them with an intention of needlessly embarrassing our delibera- tions. It is possible some change in our late pro- ceedings ought to take place, upon principles of political justice ; or that, all things considered, the majority may see cause to recede from some of their just pretensions, as a matter of prudence and expe- dience. For my own part, there is nothing I so much dread as a failure to devise and establish some effi- cient and equal form of government for our infant re- public. The present effort has been made under the happiest auspices, and has promised the most favor- able results; but should this effort prove vain, it will be long ere another can be made with any prospect of success. Our strength and our pros- perity will depend on our unity ; and the secession of even four of the smallest States, interspersed as they are, would, in my mind, paralyze and render useless any plan which the majority could devise. I should therefore be grieved, Mr. President, to see matters brought to the test which has been, perhaps too rashly, threatened on the one hand, and which some of my honored colleagues have treated too lightly on the other. I am convinced that it is a
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subject which should be approached with caution, treated with tenderness, and decided on with candor and liberality. It is, however, to be feared that the members of this Convention are not in a temper, at this moment, to approach the sub. ject on which we differ, in a proper spirit. I would therefore propose, Mr. President, that, without proceeding further in this business at this time, the Convention should adjourn for three days, in order to let the present ferment pass off, and to afford time for a more full and dis- passionate investigation of the subject ; and I would earnestly recommend to the members of this Convention that they spend the time of this recess, not in associating with their own party, and devising new arguments to fortify themselves in their own opinions, but that they mix with members of opposite sentiments, lend a patient ear to their reasoning, and candidly allow them all the weight to which they may be entitled ; and when we assemble again, I hope it will be with a determination to . form a Constitution-if not such an one as we can individually, and in all respects, approve, yet the best which, under existing circumstances, can be obtained.' Here
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the countenance of Washington brightened, and a cheering ray seemed to break in upon the gloom which had recently covered our political horizon. The Doctor continued :- ' Before I sit down, Mr. President, I will suggest another matter; and I am really surprised that it has not been proposed by some other member at an earlier period of our deliberations. 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 ; 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 Conven- tion, generally, less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority even greater than we may 21
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suppose an oracle to have had in a Roman Senate. A silent admiration superseded, for a moment, the expression of that assent and approbation which was strongly marked on almost every countenance ; I say almost-for one man was found in the Conven- tion, Mr. - , of. ", who rose and said, with regard to the first motion of the honorable gentle- man, for an adjournment, he would yield his consent ; but he protested against the second motion, for the appointment of a chaplain. He then commenced a high-strained eulogium on the assemblage of wisdom, talent, and experience, which the Convention embraced ; declared the high sense he entertained of the honor which his constituents had conferred upon him, in making him a member of that respectable body; said he was confidently of opinion that they were competent to transact the business which had been intrusted to their care; that they were equal to every exigence which might occur ; and concluded by saying that, therefore, he had not seen the necessity of calling in foreign aid.
" Washington fixed his eyes upon the speaker with a mixture of surprise and indignation, while he uttered this impertinent and impious speech, and
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then looked around to ascertain in what manner it affected others. They did not leave him.a moment to doubt: no one deigned to reply, or take the smallest notice of the speaker, but the motion for appointing a chaplain was instantly seconded and carried; whether under the silent disapprobation of Mr. - , or his solitary negative, I do not recollect. The motion for an adjournment was then put, and carried unanimously; and the Convention ad- journed accordingly.
" The three days' recess were spent in the manner advised by Doctor Franklin : the opposite parties mixed with each other, and a free and frank inter- change of sentiments took place. On the fourth day we assembled again; and if great additional light had not been thrown on the subject, every un- friendly feeling had been expelled, and a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated which promised at least a calm and dispassionate reconsideration of the subject.
" As soon as the Chaplain had closed his prayer, and the minutes of the last sitting were read, all `eyes were turned to the Doctor. He rose, and in a few words stated, that during the recess he had listened attentively to all the arguments, pro and
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con, which had been urged on both sides of the House; that he had himself said much, and thought more, on the subject ; he saw difficulties and objec- tions which might be urged by individual States against every scheme which had been proposed; and he was now more than ever convinced that the Constitution which they were about to form, in order to be just and equal, must be founded on the basis of compromise and mutual concession. With such views and feelings, he would now move a re- consideration of the vote last taken on the organiza- tion of the Senate. The motion was seconded-the vote carried-the former vote rescinded-and, by a successive motion and resolution, the Senate was organized on the present plan."
The spirit which pervades this narrative is so excellent that we feel reluctant to find fault with it. But the writer is under a mistake in some im- portant points. The story must- have undergone a change after it came from General Dayton, for we can hardly suppose that he would state the facts in a manner different from that in which authentic records show them to have actually occurred.
Mr. Madison was a leading member of the Con-
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vention, and kept a very minute record of all its deliberations and proceedings, which is now pub- lished in the "Madison Papers." He describes the crisis in the Convention on the subject of represen- tation in the Senate, and on other topics, to have become alarming, and shows that the impending danger of an open rupture was averted by a spirit of concession and compromise on both sides of various questions. He also notices a proposition to adjourn, not for three days, but to the day following, and makes particular mention of Dr. Franklin's motion for the introduction of religious service by a chaplain. But although the Conven- tion agreed to adjourn, the motion for inviting a chaplain to open the Convention with prayer was not carried. In Franklin's works, we have his speech on the subject, to which a note is appended by himself, stating that his proposition failed ; and in the "Madison Papers" we find the history of the whole matter to have been as follows :
The proceedings referred to were on the 28th of June ; and on that day the determination of the question before the Convention "was put off till . to-morrow at the request of the Deputies from New York," when Dr. Franklin arose and said :
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"' Mr. President :- The small progress we have made after four or five weeks close attendance and continual reasonings with each other, our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes, is, methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. We, indeed, seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been run- ning about in search of it. We have gone back to an- cient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolu- tion, now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all round Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
"' In the situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights, to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room, for the Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.
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All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintend- ing Providence in our favor. To that kind Provi- dence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend ? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance ? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an em- pire can rise without His aid ? Wehave been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this ; and I also believe that, with- out His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builder's of Babel. We shall be divided by our little partial local interests ; our projects will be confounded : and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by- word down to future ages. And what is worse, man- kind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wis- dom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.
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