1680. CONSTITUTION (The Federal), Disapproval of.—[further continued].
I received a copy [of the
new Federal Constitution] early in November
[1787] and read and contemplated its
provisions with great satisfaction. As not a
member of the Convention, however, nor
probably a single citizen of the Union had
approved it in all its parts, so I, too, found
articles which I thought objectionable. The
absence of express declarations ensuring
freedom of religion, freedom of the press,
freedom of the person under the uninterrupted
protection of the habeas corpus, and
trial by jury in civil as well as in criminal
cases excited my jealousy; and the re-eligibility
of the President for life I quite disapproved.
I expressed freely in letters to
my friends and most particularly to Mr.
Madison and General Washington my approbations
and objections.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 79.
Ford ed., i, 108.
(1821)
