1640. CONSTITUTION (The Federal) Action by the States.—
With respect to the
new government, nine or ten States will
probably have accepted by the end of this
month. The others may oppose it. Virginia
I think, will be of this number. Besides other
objections of less moment, she will insist or
annexing a bill of rights to the new Constitution,
i. e. a bill wherein the government
shall declare that, I. Religion shall be free.
2. Printing presses free. 3. Trials by jury
preserved in all cases. 4. No monopolies in
commerce. 5. No standing army. Upon receiving
this bill of rights, she will probably
depart from her other objections, and the bill
is so much to the interest of all the States
that I presume they will offer it, and thus our
Constitution be amended, and our Union
closed by the end of the present year. In this
way, there will have been opposition enough
to do good, and not enough to do harm.—
To C. W. F. Dumas. Washington ed. ii, 356.
(P.
Feb. 1788)
