第33章
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  probablyatfirst,itwillonlybeatransfertothemoftheportionofitnowexercisedbyparliament,thatistosay,arighttoproposeamendmentsandanegative。Butitmustinfalliblyendinarightoforigination。4。Perhapstheymaymakeadeclarationofrights。Itwillbeattemptedatleast。Twootherobjectswillbeattempted,viz。,ahabeascorpuslawandafreepress。Butprobablytheymaynotobtaintheseinthefirstsession,orwithmodificationsonly,andthenationmustbelefttoripenitselfmorefortheirunlimitedadoption。Uponthewhole,ithasappearedtomethatthebasisofthepresentstruggleisanilluminationofthepublicmindastotherightsofthenation,aidedbyfortunateincidents;thattheycanneverretrograde,butfromthenaturalprogressofthings,mustpressforwardtotheestablishmentofaconstitutionwhichshallassuretothemagooddegreeofliberty。TheyflatterthemselvestheyshallformabetterconstitutionthantheEnglish。Ithinkitwillbebetterinsomepoints——worseinothers。Itwillbebetterinthearticleofrepresentation,whichwillbemoreequal。Itwillbeworse,astheirsituationobligesthemtokeepupthedangerousmachineofastandingarmy。Idoubt,too,whethertheywillobtainthetrialbyjury,becausetheyarenotsensibleofitsvalue。

  IamsureIhavebythistimeheartilytiredyouwiththislongepistle,andthatyouwillbegladtoseeitbroughttoanend,withassurancesofthesentimentsofesteemandrespectwithwhichIhavethehonortobe,dearSir,yourmostobedient,andmosthumbleservant。

  BACON,LOCKE,ANDNEWTON

  _ToJohnTrumbull_

  _Paris,Feb。15,1789_

  DEARSIR,——Ihavedulyreceivedyourfavorofthe5’th。inst。

  Withrespecttothebusts&picturesIwillputofftillmyreturnfromAmericaallofthemexceptBacon,LockeandNewton,whosepicturesIwilltroubleyoutohavecopiedforme:andasIconsiderthemasthethreegreatestmenthathaveeverlived,withoutanyexception,andashavinglaidthefoundationofthosesuperstructureswhichhavebeenraisedinthePhysical&Moralsciences,Iwouldwishtoformthemintoaknotonthesamecanvas,thattheymaynotbeconfoundedatallwiththeherdofothergreatmen。TodothisI

  supposeweneedonlydesirethecopyisttodrawthethreebustsinthreeovalsallcontainedinalargerovalinsomesuchformasthiseachbusttobethesizeoflife。

  xxx。ThelargeovalwouldIsupposebeaboutbetweenfour&

  fivefeet。Perhapsyoucansuggestabetterwayofaccomplishingmyidea。Inyourhandsbeit,aswellasthesubalternexpencesyoumention。ItroubleyouwithalettertoMrs。Church。WehavenoimportantnewsherebutoftherevolutionofGenevawhichisnotyetsufficientlyexplained。Buttheyhavecertainlyreformedtheirgovernment。IamwithgreatrespectD’r。SirYouraffectionatefriend&humbleserv’t。”NEITHERFEDERALISTNORANTIFEDERALIST”

  _ToFrancisHopkinson_

  _Paris,Mar。13,1789_

  DEARSIR,——Sincemylast,whichwasofDec。21。yoursofDec。

  9。&21。arereceived。Acceptmythanksforthepapersandpamphletswhichaccompaniedthem,andmine&mydaughter’sforthebookofsongs。Iwillnottellyouhowmuchtheyhavepleasedus,norhowwellthelastofthemmeritspraiseforit’spathos,butrelateafactonly,whichisthatwhilemyelderdaughterwasplayingitontheharpsichord,Ihappenedtolooktowardsthefire&sawtheyoungeroneallintears。Iaskedherifshewassick?Shesaid`no;butthetunewassomournful。’——TheEditoroftheEncyclopediehaspublishedsomethingastoanadvancedpriceonhisfuturevolumes,whichIunderstandalarmsthesubscribers。ItwasinapaperwhichIdonottake&thereforeIhavenotyetseenit,norcansaywhatitis——Ihopethatbythistimeyouhaveceasedtomakewryfacesaboutyourvinegar,andthatyouhavereceiveditsafe&

  good。YousaythatIhavebeendisheduptoyouasanantifederalist,andaskmeifitbejust。Myopinionwasneverworthyenoughofnoticetomeritciting;butsinceyouaskitIwilltellityou。IamnotaFederalist,becauseIneversubmittedthewholesystemofmyopinionstothecreedofanypartyofmenwhateverinreligion,inphilosophy,inpolitics,orinanythingelsewhereI

  wascapableofthinkingformyself。Suchanaddictionisthelastdegradationofafreeandmoralagent。IfIcouldnotgotoheavenbutwithaparty,Iwouldnotgothereatall。ThereforeIprotesttoyouIamnotofthepartyoffederalists。ButIammuchfartherfromthatoftheAntifederalists。Iapproved,fromthefirstmoment,ofthegreatmassofwhatisinthenewconstitution,theconsolidationofthegovernment,theorganizationintoExecutivelegislative&judiciary,thesubdivisionofthelegislative,thehappycompromiseofinterestsbetweenthegreat&littlestatesbythedifferentmannerofvotinginthedifferenthouses,thevotingbypersonsinsteadofstates,thequalifiednegativeonlawsgiventotheExecutivewhichhoweverIshouldhavelikedbetterifassociatedwiththejudiciaryalsoasinNewYork,andthepoweroftaxation。I

  thoughtatfirstthatthelattermighthavebeenlimited。Alittlereflectionsoonconvincedmeitoughtnottobe。WhatIdisapprovedfromthefirstmomentalsowasthewantofabillofrightstoguardlibertyagainstthelegislativeaswellasexecutivebranchesofthegovernment,thatistosaytosecurefreedominreligion,freedomofthepress,freedomfrommonopolies,freedomfromunlawfulimprisonment,freedomfromapermanentmilitary,andatrialbyjuryinallcasesdeterminablebythelawsoftheland。IdisapprovedalsotheperpetualreeligibilityofthePresident。TothesepointsofdisapprobationIadhere。Myfirstwishwasthatthe9。firstconventionsmightaccepttheconstitution,asthemeansofsecuringtousthegreatmassofgooditcontained,andthatthe4。lastmightrejectit,asthemeansofobtainingamendments。ButIwascorrectedinthiswishthemomentIsawthemuchbetterplanofMassachusettsandwhichhadneveroccurredtome。WithrespecttothedeclarationofrightsIsupposethemajorityoftheUnitedstatesareofmyopinion:forIapprehendalltheantifederalists,andaveryrespectableproportionofthefederaliststhinkthatsuchadeclarationshouldnowbeannexed。TheenlightenedpartofEuropehavegivenusthegreatestcreditforinventingthisinstrumentofsecurityfortherightsofthepeople,andhavebeennotalittlesurprisedtoseeussosoongiveitup。Withrespecttothere-eligibilityofthepresident,Ifindmyselfdifferingfromthemajorityofmycountrymen,forIthinktherearebutthreestatesoutofthe11。whichhavedesiredanalterationofthis。Andindeed,sincethethingisestablished,Iwouldwishitnottobealteredduringthelifeofourgreatleader,whoseexecutivetalentsaresuperiortothoseIbelieveofanymanintheworld,andwhoalonebytheauthorityofhisnameandtheconfidencereposedinhisperfectintegrity,isfullyqualifiedtoputthenewgovernmentsounderwayastosecureitagainsttheeffortsofopposition。ButhavingderivedfromourerrorallthegoodtherewasinitIhopeweshallcorrectitthemomentwecannolongerhavethesamenameatthehelm。These,mydearfriend,aremysentiments,bywhichyouwillseeIwasrightinsayingIamneitherfederalistnorantifederalist;

  thatIamofneitherparty,noryetatrimmerbetweenparties。ThesemyopinionsIwrotewithinafewhoursafterIhadreadtheconstitution,tooneortwofriendsinAmerica。Ihadnotthenreadonesinglewordprintedonthesubject。IneverhadanopinioninpoliticsorreligionwhichIwasafraidtoown。Acostivereserveonthesesubjectsmighthaveprocuredmemoreesteemfromsomepeople,butlessfrommyself。Mygreatwishistogooninastrictbutsilentperformanceofmyduty;toavoidattractingnotice&tokeepmynameoutofnewspapers,becauseIfindthepainofalittlecensure,evenwhenitisunfounded,ismoreacutethanthepleasureofmuchpraise。TheattachingcircumstanceofmypresentofficeisthatIcandoit’sdutiesunseenbythoseforwhomtheyaredone——

  Youdidnotthink,bysoshortaphraseinyourletter,tohavedrawnonyourselfsuchanegotisticaldissertation。

  ABILLOFRIGHTS

  _ToJamesMadison_

  _Paris,Mar15,1789_

  DEARSIR,——Iwroteyoulastonthe12thofJan。sincewhichI

  havereceivedyoursofOctob17,Dec8&12。ThatofOct。17。cametohandonlyFeb23。Howithappenedtobefourmonthsontheway,I

  cannottell,asIneverknewbywhathanditcame。LookingovermyletterofJan12th,Iremarkanerroroftheword”probable”insteadof”improbable,”whichdoubtlesshoweveryouhadbeenabletocorrect。YourthoughtsonthesubjectoftheDeclarationofrightsintheletterofOct17。Ihaveweighedwithgreatsatisfaction。

  Someofthemhadnotoccurredtomebefore,butwereacknolegedjustinthemomenttheywerepresentedtomymind。Intheargumentsinfavorofadeclarationofrights,youomitonewhichhasgreatweightwithme,thelegalcheckwhichitputsintothehandsofthejudiciary。Thisisabody,whichifrenderedindependent&keptstrictlytotheirowndepartmentmeritsgreatconfidencefortheirlearning&integrity。InfactwhatdegreeofconfidencewouldbetoomuchforabodycomposedofsuchmenasWythe,Blair&Pendleton?Oncharacterslikethesethe_”civiumardorpravajubentium”_wouldmakenoimpression。Iamhappytofindthatonthewholeyouareafriendtothisamendment。TheDeclarationofrightsislikeallotherhumanblessingsalloyedwithsomeinconveniences,andnotaccomplishingfullyit’sobject。Butthegoodinthisinstancevastlyoverweighstheevil。Icannotrefrainfrommakingshortanswerstotheobjectionswhichyourletterstatestohavebeenraised。1。Thattherightsinquestionarereservedbythemannerinwhichthefederalpowersaregranted。Answer。Aconstitutiveactmaycertainlybesoformedastoneednodeclarationofrights。Theactitselfhastheforceofadeclarationasfarasitgoes;andifitgoestoallmaterialpointsnothingmoreiswanting。InthedraughtofaconstitutionwhichIhadonceathoughtofproposinginVirginia,&

  printedafterwards,Iendeavoredtoreachallthegreatobjectsofpublicliberty,anddidnotmeantoaddadeclarationofrights。

  Probablytheobjectwasimperfectlyexecuted;butthedeficiencieswouldhavebeensuppliedbyothers,inthecourseofdiscussion。Butinaconstitutiveactwhichleavessomepreciousarticlesunnoticed,andraisesimplicationsagainstothers,adeclarationofrightsbecomesnecessarybywayofsupplement。Thisisthecaseofournewfederalconstitution。Thisinstrumentformsusintoonestateastocertainobjects,andgivesusalegislative&executivebodyfortheseobjects。Itshouldthereforeguardusagainsttheirabusesofpowerwithinthefieldsubmittedtothem。2。Apositivedeclarationofsomeessentialrightscouldnotbeobtainedintherequisitelatitude。Answer。Halfaloafisbetterthannobread。Ifwecannotsecureallourrights,letussecurewhatwecan。3。Thelimitedpowersofthefederalgovernment&jealousyofthesubordinategovernmentsaffordasecuritywhichexistsinnootherinstance。Answer。Thefirstmemberofthisseemsresolvableintothefirstobjectionbeforestated。Thejealousyofthesubordinategovernmentsisapreciousreliance。Butobservethatthosegovernmentsareonlyagents。Theymusthaveprinciplesfurnishedthemwhereontofoundtheiropposition。Thedeclarationofrightswillbethetextwherebytheywilltryalltheactsofthefederalgovernment,Inthisviewitisnecessarytothefederalgovernmentalso;asbythesametexttheymaytrytheoppositionofthesubordinategovernments。4。Experienceprovestheinefficacyofabillofrights。True。Butthoitisnotabsolutelyefficaciousunderallcircumstances,itisofgreatpotencyalways,andrarelyinefficacious。Abracethemorewilloftenkeepupthebuildingwhichwouldhavefallenwiththatbracetheless。ThereisaremarkabledifferencebetweenthecharactersoftheInconvenienceswhichattendaDeclarationofrights,&thosewhichattendthewantofit。TheinconveniencesoftheDeclarationarethatitmaycrampgovernmentinit’susefulexertions。Buttheevilofthisisshort-lived,trivial&reparable。TheinconveniencesofthewantofaDeclarationarepermanent,afflicting&irreparable。Theyareinconstantprogressionfrombadtoworse。Theexecutiveinourgovernmentsisnotthesole,itisscarcelytheprincipalobjectofmyjealousy。Thetyrannyofthelegislaturesisthemostformidabledreadatpresent,andwillbeforlongyears。Thatoftheexecutivewillcomeinit’sturn,butitwillbeataremoteperiod。Iknowtherearesomeamonguswhowouldnowestablishamonarchy。Buttheyareinconsiderableinnumberandweightofcharacter。Therisingraceareallrepublicans。Wewereeducatedinroyalism;nowonderifsomeofusretainthatidolatrystill。Ouryoungpeopleareeducatedinrepublicanism,anapostasyfromthattoroyalismisunprecedented&impossible。Iammuchpleasedwiththeprospectthatadeclarationofrightswillbeadded;andhopeitwillbedoneinthatwaywhichwillnotendangerthewholeframeofthegovernment,oranyessentialpartofit。

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