USA > Virginia > The history of the Virginia federal convention of 1788, with some account of eminent Virginians of that era who were members of the body, Vol. I > Part 15
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122 Life of Dr. A. Alexander by his son, page 190.
123 Letter of Joseph B. Whitehead, Esq., to the author. To save repetition, the reader will regard all letters, when the name of the per- son to whom they are written is not stated, as addressed to the author. One evidence of the effect of the speech was seen in the fact that the following day three of the strongest federalists, Randolph, Madison, and George Nicholas, the last the most powerful man of the three in debate at a great crisis, occupied the whole of the session.
124 Henry, on his return home, told this fact to his wife, who told it to her son John, who told it to me.
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When Henry finished his speech Edmund Randolph rose to deprecate the irregular mode of debate and the departure from the order of the House. He said that if the House proceeded in that irregular manner, contrary to its resolution, instead of three or six weeks, it would take six months to decide the question. He should endeavor to make the committee sensible of the neces- sity of establishing a national Government, and the inefficacy of the Confederation. He should take the first opportunity of doing so ; and he mentioned the fact merely to show that he had not answered the gentleman fully, nor in a general way, yester- day. The House then adjourned.
CHAPTER III.
The effect of Henry's speech both in and out of the House had been great. It startled the friends of the new system from that sense of security in which the more sanguine had indulged ; and they saw that unless prompt measures were adopted to counteract the present feeling all hopes of a successful issue would be vain. Accordingly, on Friday, the sixth day of June, . and the fifth of the session, the federalists summoned to the field the most able array of talents, which, abounding as they did in able men, their ranks afforded. It was feared that Henry might rise to deepen the impression which he had already made ; for Randolph in his few remarks the previous day had not se- cured the floor, and every effort must be exerted to prevent such an untoward movement. It was evidently arranged that Ran- dolph should discuss the whole subject in an elaborate speech ; that Madison, who had been ill, should be on the alert to suc- ceed him ; and should his feeble health prevent him from con - suming the entire day, that George Nicholas, who was more familiar with large public bodies than either Randolph or Mad- ison, should exhaust the remainder of the sitting.
When the President called the Convention to order, a debate arose on the returns of an election case, which was soon dis- patched, and the House resolved itself into committee-Wythe in the chair. As soon as he was fairly seated, Edmund Ran- dolph rose to reply to the speech delivered by Henry. In an exordium of rare beauty, in which he called himself a child of the Revolution, he alluded to the early manifestations of affec- tion to him by Virginia at a time when, from peculiar circum- stances well known to the House, he needed it most, and to the honors which had been bestowed upon him; and in which he declared that it should be the unwearied study of his life to pro-
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mote her happiness, and that in a twelvemonth he should with- draw from all public employments. Then launching into his subject, "We are told," he said, " that the report of dangers is false. The cry of peace, sir, is false; it is but a sudden calm. The tempest growls over you. Look around : wheresoever you look you see danger. When there are so many witnesses in many parts of America that justice is suffocated, shall peace and happiness still be said to reign ? Candor requires an undis- guised representation of our situation. Candor demands a faithful exposition of facts. Many citizens have found justice strangled and trampled under foot through the course of juris- prudence in this country. Are those who have debts due them satisfied with your Government? Are not creditors wearied with the tedious procrastination of your legal process ?- a pro- cess obscured by legislative mists. Cast your eyes to your sea- ports-see how commerce languishes. This country, so blessed by nature with every advantage that can render commerce profitable, through defective legislation is deprived of all the benefits and emoluments which she might otherwise reap from it. We hear many complaints of located lands-a variety of competitors claiming the same lands under legislative acts ;125 public faith prostrated, and private confidence destroyed. I ask you if your laws are reverenced ? In every well-regulated community the laws command respect. Are yours entitled to reverence? We not only see violations of the Constitution, but of national principles, in repeated instances.
"How is the fact? The history of the violations of the Consti- tion from the year 1776 to this present time-violations made by formal acts of the Legislature. Everything has been drawn within the legislative vortex. There is one example of this vio- lation in Virginia of a most striking and shocking nature-an example so horrid that if I conceived my country would pas- sively permit a repetition of it, dear as it is to me, I would seek means of expatriating myself from it. A man who was then a citizen was deprived of his life in the following manner: From mere reliance on general reports, a gentleman in the House of Delegates informed that body that a certain man (Josiah Philips) had committed several crimes, and was running at large perpe-
126 A hit at George Mason, who drew the first land law.
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trating other crimes. He therefore moved for leave to attaint him. He obtained that leave instantly. No sooner did he ob- tain it than he drew from his pocket a bill ready written for that effect. It was read three times in one day, and carried to the Senate. I will not say that it passed the same day through the Senate ; but he was attainted very speedily and precipitately, without any proof better than vague reports. Without being confronted with his accusers and witnesses, without the privilege of calling for evidence in his behalf, he was sentenced to death, and was afterwards actually executed. Was this arbitrary depri- vation of life, the dearest gift of God to man, consistent with the genius of a republican government ? Is this compatible with the spirit of freedom ? This, sir, has made the deepest impres- sion on my heart, and I cannot contemplate it without horror. 126
126 The reader must keep in mind that this severe tirade against the legislation of Virginia was designed by the speaker to reflect partly on Mason, but especially on Henry, who, throughout the war and until the session of the Convention, bore a leading part either in the executive or legislative department of the State. But never was an orator more unfortunate than Randolph in his selection of an instance of tyranny. The case of Philips was presented to the Assembly, not by a member, but by the Governor (Henry), who enclosed the letter of Colonel Wil- son, of Norfolk county, detailing the enormities perpetrated on un- offending and helpless women and children in the county of Princess Anne by that infamous outlaw. The message of the Governor was re- ferred to a committee of the whole, which reported a resolution at- tainting Philips. A bill was brought in accordingly, was read on three several days as usual, was passed and sent to the Senate, which adopted it without amendment. Nor was Philips executed in consequence of the act of attainder. On the contrary, having been apprehended, he was indicted for highway robbery by Randolph himself, who was Attor- ney-General at the time, an after a fair trial by a jury was condemned and executed. Possibly, as Randolph was clerk of the House of Dele- gates (as well as Attorney-General) at the time, he may have remem- bered that Harrison was speaker of the body at the time, and that Tyler was one of the committe which brought in the bill, both of whom were members of the present Convention, and were warmly opposed to the new Constitution. But granting for the sake of argument that at the most trying period of the Revolution the people of Princess Anne, instead of hanging a desperate outlaw to the first tree, sought to attain their end by an act of attainder, and that the wretch had suffered accordingly, what does it prove? Simply that there were occasional errors in the legislation of the State at a difficult crisis-errors that
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There are still a multiplicity of complaints of the debility of the laws. Justice in many cases is so unattainable that commerce may be said in fact to be stopped entirely. There is no peace, sir, in this land. Can peace exist with injustice, licentiousness, insecurity and oppression? These considerations, independent of many others which I have not yet enumerated, would be a sufficient reason for the adoption of this Constitution, because it secures the liberty of the citizen, his person and property, and will invigorate and restore commerce and industry."
He argued at length to prove that the excessive licentiousness which has resulted from the relaxation of the laws would be checked by the new system ; that the danger and impolicy of waiting for subsequent amendments were extreme; that jury trial was safe or would readily be made safe ; that the position and the connections of the Swiss Cantons were so diverse from ours that no argument drawn from them was applicable to the present case ; that the extent of a country was not an insuper- able objection to a national government; that the union was necessary to Virginia from her accessibility by sea, from her proximity to Maryland and Pennsylvania, which had adopted the Constitution, from the number of savages on her borders, and from the presence of the black population. "The day may come," he said, "when that population may make an impression upon us. Gentlemen who have long been accustomed to the contemplation of the subject, think there is cause of alarm in this case. The number of those people, compared to that of the whites, is in an immense proportion. Their number amounts to two hundred and thirty-six thousand; that of the whites only to three hundred and fifty-two thousand.127 Will the American
might have occurred under any form of government, and that might argue an amendment of the State Government, and not of a Confeder- ation. It may not be amiss to say that Randolph was a warm advocate of a Convention to amend the Constitution of the State.
127 By the census of 1790, the number of whites in Virginia, including the district of Kentucky, was 442, 115; the number of blacks, 293,427 ; and the whole population, including all other persons, was 748,308. Either the figures of Randolph are far below the actual population of the State in 1788. or the census taken two years later indicates a won- derful increase ; and it is known that the census of 1790 underated our numbers.
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spirit so much spoken of, repel an invading enemy or enable you to obtain an advantageous peace? Manufactures and military stores may afford relief to a country exposed. Have we these at present? If we shall be separated from the Union, shall our chance of having these be greater, or will not the want of these be the more deplorable ?
He spoke- of the debts due to foreign nations-to France, Spain, England, and Holland-and the ability of those powers to close our ports on our failure to comply with their demands. "Suppose," he said, "the American spirit in fullest vigor in Virginia, what military preparations and exertions is she capable of making? The other States have upwards of three hundred and thirty thousand men capable of bearing arms. Our militia amounts to fifty thousand, or say sixty thousand. In case of an attack, what defence can we make? The militia of our country will be wanted for agriculture. Some also will be necessary for manufactures and those mechanic arts which are necessary for the aid of the farmer and the planter. If we had men sufficient in number to defend ourselves, it could not avail without other requisites. We must have a navy, to be supported in time of peace as well as in war, to guard our coasts and defend us against invasion. The maintaining a navy will require money ; and where can we get money for this and other purposes? How shall we raise it? Review the enormity of the debts due by this country. The amount of debt we owe to the continent for bills of credit, rating at forty to one, will amount to between six and seven hundred thousand pounds.128 There is also due the con- tinent the balance of requisitions due by us ; and in addition to this proportion of the old continental debt, there are the foreign, domestic, State-military, and loan-office debts ; to which, when you add the British debt, where is the possibility of finding money to raise an army or navy? Review your real ability. Shall we recur to loans? Nothing can be more impolitic ; they impoverish a nation. We, sir, have nothing to repay them ; nor can we procure them. If the imposts and duties in Virginia, even on the present footing, be very unproductive and not equal to our necessity, what would it be if we were separated from the Union? From the first of September to the first of June, the
118 Virginia currency ; the pound at $3.33 1/3.
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amount put into the treasury is only fifty-nine thousand pounds, or a little more.129 But if smuggling be introduced in conse- quence of high duties, or otherwise, and the Potomac should be lost, what hope of getting money from these? Our commerce will not be kindly received by foreigners if transacted solely by ourselves. It is the spirit of commercial nations to engross as much as possible the carrying trade. This makes it necessary to defend our commerce ; but how shall we compass this end ? England has arisen to the greatest height in modern times by her navigation act and other excellent regulations. The same means would produce the same effect. We have inland navi- gation. Our last exports did not exceed one millions of pounds value. Our export trade is entirely in the hands of foreigners. I beg, gentlemen, to consider these two things : our inability to raise and man a navy, and the dreadful consequences of a disso- lution of the Union."
He next adverts to an argument used by Henry. "It is
129 The exact amount from November 30th, 1787 to November, 1788, derived from customs, was seventy four thousand pounds ; and as the average of the tariff was very low, not exceeding two per cent., we can readily see the amount of the imports during that period. The whole receipts in that interval, including customs. reached {417,498 9s 872d, collected from a people as industrious and quiet as existed on the face of the globe. This immense commerce, it must be remembered, sprang from nothing to its present amount in about four years and a little more ; and proves that the talk about our commerce gone forever and our languishing industry, was only the talk of politicians. Even Randolph admits that our population was increasing ; but he did not appreciate the enormous accessions that had been made and were daily making from abroad, and especially from the Northern States. As for what Randolph denounces as want of justice and violations of the Constitution of the State by the General Assembly, they were mere matters of opinion among public men, and unknown to the mass of the people. Let the reader consult the report of the Committee of the House of Delegates on the Treasury, made on the 19th of December, 1788, ( Journal House of Delegates, 106) and note the amount of back taxes which were gradually coming in from the poorer counties, and the various items of receipts, and the sum of money paid down, and he will see an exhibit honorable to any country. It was in the society in which Randolph moved, men formerly of princely wealth, who had suffered seriously by the war, as such classes always do, that the talk about declining agriculture and vanishing commerce was heard.
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insinuated," he said, " by the honorable gentleman that we want to be a grand, splendid and magnificent people. We wish not to become so. The magnificence of a royal court is not our object. We want government, sir ; a government that will have stability and give us security ; for our present Government is des- stitute of the one and incapable of producing the other. It can- not with propriety be denominated a government, being void of that energy requisite to enforce sanctions. I wish my country not to be contemptible in the eyes of foreign nations. A well regulated community is always respected. It is the internal situation, the defects of government, that attracts foreign con- tempt. That contempt, sir, is too often followed by subjugation."
"The object of a federal government," he said, "is to remedy and strengthen the weakness of its individual branches, whether that weakness arises from situation or from any external cause. With respect to the first, is it not a miracle that the confederation carried us through the war ? It was our unanimity that carried us through it. That system was not ultimately concluded till the year 1781. Although the greatest exertions were made before that time, when came requisitions for men and money, its defects then were immediately discovered. The quotas of men were readily sent ; not so those of money. One State feigned inabil- ity ; another would not comply till the rest did ; and various excuses were offered, so that no money was sent into the treasury -not a requisition was fully complied with. Loans were the next measure fallen upon. Upwards of eighty millions of dollars were wanting, beside the emissions of dollars forty for one. These things show the impossibility of relying on requisitions." "Without adequate powers vested in Congress, America cannot be respectable in the eyes of other nations. Congress ought to be fully vested with power to support the Union; protect the interests of the United States; maintain their commerce and defend them from external invasions and insults and internal insurrections ; to maintain justice and promote harmony and public tranquility among the States. A government not vested with these powers will ever be found unable to make us happy or respectable. How the Confederation is different from such a government is known to all America. What are the powers of Congress? They have full authority to recommend what they please; this recommenda- tory power reduces them to the condition of poor supplicants.
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Consider the dignified language of the members of the American Congress. May it please your high mightiness of Virginia to pay your just proportionate quota of our national debt; we humbly supplicate that it may please you to comply with your federal duties. Their operations are of no validity when counter- acted by the States. Their authority to recommend is a mere mockery of government. But the amendability of the Confed- eration seems to have great weight on the minds of some gentle- men. To what points will the amendments go? What part makes the most important figure ? What part deserves to be retained ? In it one body has the legislative, executive and judi- · cial powers ; but the want of efficient powers has prevented the dangers naturally consequent on the union of these. Is this union consistent with an augmentation of their powers ? Will you, then, amend it by taking away one of these three powers ? Suppose, for instance, you only vested it with the legislative and executive powers without any control on the judiciary, what must be the result? Are we not taught by reason, experience and governmental history that tyranny is the natural and certain con- sequence of uniting these two powers, or the legislative and judicial powers excusively, in the same body ? Whenever any two of these three powers are vested in one single body, they must at one time or other terminate in the destruction of liberty. In the most important cases the assent of nine States is necessary to pass a law. This is too great a restriction, and whatever good consequences it may in some cases produce, yet it will prevent energy in many other cases. It will prevent energy which is most necessary in some emergencies, even in cases wherein the existence of the community depends on vigor and expedition. It is incompatible with that secrecy which is the life of execution and despatch. Did ever thirty or forty men retain a secret ? Without secrecy no government can carry on its operations on great occasions ; this is what gives that superiority in action to the government of one. If anything were wanting to complete this farce, it would be that a resolution of the Assembly of Vir- ginia and the other legislatures should be necessary to confirm and render of any validity the congressional acts; this would openly discover the debility of the general Government to all the world. An act of the Assembly of Virginia, controverting a · resolution of Congress, would certainly prevail. I therefore con-
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clude that the Confederation is too defective to deserve correction. Let us take farewell of it with reverential respect as an old bene- factor. It is gone whether this House says so or not. It is gone, sir, by its own weakness."
He thus concluded : " I intended to show the nature of the powers which ought to have been given to the general Govern- ment, and the reason of investing it with the power of taxation ; but this would require more time than my strength or the patience of the committee would now admit of. I shall conclude with a few objections which come from my heart. I have labored for the continuance of the Union-the rock of our salvation. I be- lieve that, as sure as there is a God in Heaven, our safety, our political happiness and existence, depend on the union of the States ; and that without this union the people of this and the other States will undergo the unspeakable calamities which dis- cord, faction, turbulence, war and bloodshed, have produced in other countries. The American spirit ought to be mixed with American pride to see the Union magnificently triumphant. Let that glorious pride, which once defied the British thunder, reani- mate you again. Let it not be recorded of America that, after having performed the most gallant exploits, after having over- come the most astonishing difficulties, and after having gained the admiration of the world by their incomparable valor and policy, they lose their acquired reputation, their national conse- quence and happiness, by their own indiscretion. Let no future historian inform posterity that they wanted wisdom and virtue to concur in any regular efficient government. Catch the present moment-seize it with avidity and eagerness-for it may be lost, never to be regained. If the Union be now lost, I fear it will remain so forever. I believe gentlemen are sincere in their op- position, and actuated by pure motives ; but when I maturely weigh the advantages of the Union and the dreadful conse- quences of dissolution ; when I see safety on my right and de- struction on my left ; when I behold respectability and happiness acquired by the one, but annihilated by the other, I cannot hesi- tate to decide in favor of the former. I hope my weakness for speaking so long will apologize for my leaving this subject in so mutilated a condition. If a further explanation be desired, I shall take the liberty to enter into it more fully another time."
This able, eloquent, and patriotic speech, which consumed two
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hours and a half in the delivery, was received with warm ap- plause by the friends of the speaker, and with the admiration which genius and talents always inspire in the breasts of honor- able opponents. Before his manly form liad disappeared in the mass of the house, and the tones of his sonorous voice had ceased to fill that crowded hall, Madison, diminutive in stature and weak from recent illness, rose to address the Assembly. Nought but a sense of public duty, upheld by a proud con- sciousness of superior worth, would have impelled him at that moment to such a serious undertaking. His few first sentences were wholly inaudible. When his voice was more assured he was understood to say that he would not attempt to make impres. sions by ardent professions of zeal for the public welfare; that the principles of every man will be, and ought to be, judged, not by his professions and declarations, but by his conduct ; by that criterion he wished, in common with every other member, to be judged ; and should it prove unfavorable to his reputation, yet it was a criterion from which he would by no means depart. He said the occasion demanded proofs and demonstration, not opinion and assertion. "It gives me pain," he said, " to hear gentlemen continually distorting the natural construction of lan- guage ; for it is sufficient if any human production can stand a fair discussion. Before I proceed to make some additions to the reasons which have been adduced by my honorable friend over the way (Randolph), I must take the liberty to make some observa- tions on what was said by another gentleman (Henry). He told us this Constitution ought to rejected because it endangered the public liberty. Give me leave to make one answer to that obser- vation : let the dangers which this system is supposed to be re- plete with be clearly pointed out ; if any dangerous and unneces- sary powers be given to the general legislature, let them be plainly demonstrated ; if powers be necessary, apparent danger is not a sufficient reason against conceding them. He has sug- gested that licentiousness has seldom produced the loss of liberty; but that the tyranny of rulers has almost always effected it. Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations. On a candid ex- amination of history we shall find that turbulence, violence,
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