" But
these heads have been so fully anticipated and exhausted in the progress
of the work, that it would now scarcely be possible to do any thing more
than repeat, in a more dilated form, what has been heretofore said,
which the advanced stage of the question, and the time already spent
upon it, conspire to forbid.
It is remarkable, that the resemblance of the plan of the convention to
the act which organizes the government of this State holds, not less
with regard to many of the supposed defects, than to the real
excellences of the former. Among the pretended defects are the
re-eligibility of the Executive, the want of a council, the omission of
a formal bill of rights, the omission of a provision respecting the
liberty of the press. These and several others which have been noted in
the course of our inquiries are as much chargeable on the existing
constitution of this State, as on the one proposed for the Union; and a
man must have slender pretensions to consistency, who can rail at the
latter for imperfections which he finds no difficulty in excusing in the
former. Nor indeed can there be a better proof of the insincerity and
affectation of some of the zealous adversaries of the plan of the
convention among us, who profess to be the devoted admirers of the
government under which they live, than the fury with which they have
attacked that plan, for matters in regard to which our own constitution
is equally or perhaps more vulnerable.
Pages:
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899