第29章

AcceptyourselfassurancesofthesincereesteemandrespectwithwhichIhavethehonourtobe，DearSir，yourfriendandservant，P。S。IaminnegociationwithdelaBlancherie。Youshallhearfrommewhenarranged。

OBJECTIONSTOTHECONSTITUTION

_ToJamesMadison_

_Paris，Dec。20，1787_

DEARSIR，——MylasttoyouwasofOct。8bytheCountdeMoustier。YoursofJuly18。Sep。6。&Oct。24。havebeensuccessivelyreceived，yesterday，thedaybefore&threeorfourdaysbeforethat。Ihaveonlyhadtimetoreadtheletters，theprintedpaperscommunicatedwiththem，howeverinteresting，beingobligedtolieovertillIfinishmydispatchesforthepacket，whichdispatchesmustgofromhencethedayaftertomorrow。Ihavemuchtothankyoufor。Firstandmostforthecypheredparagraphrespectingmyself。

Theselittleinformationsareverymaterialtowardsformingmyowndecisions。IwouldbegladeventoknowwhenanyindividualmemberthinksIhavegonewronginanyinstance。IfIknowmyselfitwouldnotexciteillbloodinme，whileitwouldassisttoguidemyconduct，perhapstojustifyit，andtokeepmetomyduty，alert。I

mustthankyoutoofortheinformationinThos。Burke’scase，tho’

youwillhavefoundbyasubsequentletterthatIhaveaskedofyouafurtherinvestigationofthatmatter。ItistogratifytheladywhoisattheheadoftheConventwhereinmydaughtersare，&who，byherattachment&attentiontothem，laysmeundergreatobligations。I

shallhopethereforestilltoreceivefromyoutheresultofthefurtherenquiriesmysecondletterhadasked——TheparcelofricewhichyouinformedmehadmiscarriedaccompaniedmylettertotheDelegatesofS。Carolina。Mr。Bourgoinwastobethebearerofboth&bothweredeliveredtogetherintothehandsofhisrelationherewhointroducedhimtome，andwhoatasubsequentmomentundertooktoconveythemtoMr。Bourgoin。ThispersonwasanengraverparticularlyrecommendedtoD’r。Franklin&Mr。Hopkinson。Perhapshemayhavemislaidthelittleparcelofriceamonghisbaggage——I

ammuchpleasedthatthesaleofWesternlandsissosuccessful。I

hopetheywillabsorballtheCertificatesofourDomesticdebtspeedily，inthefirstplace，andthatthenofferedforcashtheywilldothesamebyourforeignone。

TheseasonadmittingonlyofoperationsintheCabinet，andthesebeinginagreatmeasuresecret，Ihavelittletofillaletter。IwillthereforemakeupthedeficiencybyaddingafewwordsontheConstitutionproposedbyourConvention。Ilikemuchthegeneralideaofframingagovernmentwhichshouldgoonofitselfpeaceably，withoutneedingcontinualrecurrencetothestatelegislatures。IliketheorganizationofthegovernmentintoLegislative，Judiciary&Executive。IlikethepowergiventheLegislaturetolevytaxes，andforthatreasonsolelyapproveofthegreaterhousebeingchosenbythepeopledirectly。Fortho’IthinkahousechosenbythemwillbeveryillyqualifiedtolegislatefortheUnion，forforeignnations&c。yetthisevildoesnotweighagainstthegoodofpreservinginviolatethefundamentalprinciplethatthepeoplearenottobetaxedbutbyrepresentativeschosenimmediatelybythemselves。Iamcaptivatedbythecompromiseoftheoppositeclaimsofthegreat&littlestates，ofthelattertoequal，andtheformertoproportionalinfluence。Iammuchpleasedtoowiththesubstitutionofthemethodofvotingbypersons，insteadofthatofvotingbystates：andIlikethenegativegiventotheExecutivewithathirdofeitherhouse，thoughIshouldhavelikeditbetterhadtheJudiciarybeenassociatedforthatpurpose，orinvestedwithasimilarandseparatepower。Thereareothergoodthingsoflessmoment。IwillnowaddwhatIdonotlike。Firsttheomissionofabillofrightsprovidingclearly&withouttheaidofsophismsforfreedomofreligion，freedomofthepress，protectionagainststandingarmies，restrictionagainstmonopolies，theeternal&

unremittingforceofthehabeascorpuslaws，andtrialsbyjuryinallmattersoffacttriablebythelawsoftheland¬bythelawofnations。Tosay，asMr。Wilsondoesthatabillofrightswasnotnecessarybecauseallisreservedinthecaseofthegeneralgovernmentwhichisnotgiven，whileintheparticularonesallisgivenwhichisnotreserved，mightdofortheaudiencetowhomitwasaddressed，butissurelyagratisdictum，opposedbystronginferencesfromthebodyoftheinstrument，aswellasfromtheomissionoftheclauseofourpresentconfederationwhichhaddeclaredthatinexpressterms。Itwasahardconclusiontosaybecausetherehasbeennouniformityamongthestatesastothecasestriablebyjury，becausesomehavebeensoincautiousastoabandonthismodeoftrial，thereforethemoreprudentstatesshallbereducedtothesamelevelofcalamity。Itwouldhavebeenmuchmorejust&wisetohaveconcludedtheotherwaythatasmostofthestateshadjudiciouslypreservedthispalladium，thosewhohadwanderedshouldbebroughtbacktoit，andtohaveest