Nothing Could Be More Irrational Than To

The Real Wonder Is That So Many Difficulties Should Have Been Surmounted [in The Federal Convention], And Surmounted With A Unanimity Almost As Unprecedented As It Must Have Been Unexpected. It Is Impossible For Any Man Of Candor To Reflect On This Circumstance Without Partaking Of The Astonishment. It Is Impossible For The Man Of Pious Reflection Not To Perceive In It A Finger Of That Almighty Hand Which Has Been So Frequently And Signally Extended To Our Relief In The Critical Stages Of The Revolution.

The Real Difference Of Interests, Lay Not Between Large And Small, But Between The Northern And Southern States. The Institution Of Slavery And Its Consequences Formed A Line Of Discrimination.

The Operations Of The Federal Government Will Be Most Extensive And Important In Times Of War And Danger; Those Of The State Governments, In Times Of Peace And Security.

The People Can Never Willfully Betray Their Own Interests: But They May Possibly Be Betrayed By The Representatives Of The People; And The Danger Will Be Evidently Greater Where The Whole Legislative Trust Is Lodged In The Hands Of One Body Of Men, Than Where The Concurrence Of Separate And Dissimilar Bodies Is Required In Every Public Act.

Learned Institutions Ought To Be Favorite Objects With Every Free People. They Throw That Light Over The Public Mind Which Is The Best Security Against Crafty And Dangerous Encroachments On The Public Liberty.