The truth is, that the great principles of the Constitution proposed by
the convention may be considered less as absolutely new, than as the
expansion of principles which are found in the articles of
Confederation. The misfortune under the latter system has been, that
these principles are so feeble and confined as to justify all the
charges of inefficiency which have been urged against it, and to require
a degree of enlargement which gives to the new system the aspect of an
entire transformation of the old.
In one particular it is admitted that the convention have departed from
the tenor of their commission. Instead of reporting a plan requiring the
confirmation OF THE LEGISLATURES OF ALL THE STATES, they have reported a
plan which is to be confirmed by the PEOPLE, and may be carried into
effect by NINE STATES ONLY. It is worthy of remark that this objection,
though the most plausible, has been the least urged in the publications
which have swarmed against the convention. The forbearance can only have
proceeded from an irresistible conviction of the absurdity of subjecting
the fate of twelve States to the perverseness or corruption of a
thirteenth; from the example of inflexible opposition given by a
MAJORITY of one sixtieth of the people of America to a measure approved
and called for by the voice of twelve States, comprising fifty-nine
sixtieths of the people an example still fresh in the memory and
indignation of every citizen who has felt for the wounded honor and
prosperity of his country.
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