The Federalist | Page 4

a free people. It is not to be wondered at,

that a government instituted in times so inauspicious, should on
experiment be found greatly deficient and inadequate to the purpose it
was intended to answer.
This intelligent people perceived and regretted these defects. Still
continuing no less attached to union than enamored of liberty, they
observed the danger which immediately threatened the former and
more remotely the latter; and being pursuaded that ample security for
both could only be found in a national government more wisely framed,
they as with one voice, convened the late convention at Philadelphia, to
take that important subject under consideration.
This convention composed of men who possessed the confidence of the
people, and many of whom had become highly distinguished by their
patriotism, virtue and wisdom, in times which tried the minds and
hearts of men, undertook the arduous task. In the mild season of peace,
with minds unoccupied by other subjects, they passed many months in
cool, uninterrupted, and daily consultation; and finally, without having
been awed by power, or influenced by any passions except love for
their country, they presented and recommended to the people the plan
produced by their joint and very unanimous councils.
Admit, for so is the fact, that this plan is only RECOMMENDED, not
imposed, yet let it be remembered that it is neither recommended to
BLIND approbation, nor to BLIND reprobation; but to that sedate and
candid consideration which the magnitude and importance of the
subject demand, and which it certainly ought to receive. But this (as
was remarked in the foregoing number of this paper) is more to be
wished than expected, that it may be so considered and examined.
Experience on a former occasion teaches us not to be too sanguine in
such hopes. It is not yet forgotten that well-grounded apprehensions of
imminent danger induced the people of America to form the
memorable Congress of 1774. That body recommended certain
measures to their constituents, and the event proved their wisdom; yet it
is fresh in our memories how soon the press began to teem with
pamphlets and weekly papers against those very measures. Not only
many of the officers of government, who obeyed the dictates of

personal interest, but others, from a mistaken estimate of consequences,
or the undue influence of former attachments, or whose ambition aimed
at objects which did not correspond with the public good, were
indefatigable in their efforts to pursuade the people to reject the advice
of that patriotic Congress. Many, indeed, were deceived and deluded,
but the great majority of the people reasoned and decided judiciously;
and happy they are in reflecting that they did so.
They considered that the Congress was composed of many wise and
experienced men. That, being convened from different parts of the
country, they brought with them and communicated to each other a
variety of useful information. That, in the course of the time they
passed together in inquiring into and discussing the true interests of
their country, they must have acquired very accurate knowledge on that
head. That they were individually interested in the public liberty and
prosperity, and therefore that it was not less their inclination than their
duty to recommend only such measures as, after the most mature
deliberation, they really thought prudent and advisable.
These and similar considerations then induced the people to rely greatly
on the judgment and integrity of the Congress; and they took their
advice, notwithstanding the various arts and endeavors used to deter
them from it. But if the people at large had reason to confide in the men
of that Congress, few of whom had been fully tried or generally known,
still greater reason have they now to respect the judgment and advice of
the convention, for it is well known that some of the most distinguished
members of that Congress, who have been since tried and justly
approved for patriotism and abilities, and who have grown old in
acquiring political information, were also members of this convention,
and carried into it their accumulated knowledge and experience.
It is worthy of remark that not only the first, but every succeeding
Congress, as well as the late convention, have invariably joined with
the people in thinking that the prosperity of America depended on its
Union. To preserve and perpetuate it was the great object of the people
in forming that convention, and it is also the great object of the plan
which the convention has advised them to adopt. With what propriety,

therefore, or for what good purposes, are attempts at this particular
period made by some men to depreciate the importance of the Union?
Or why is it suggested that three or four confederacies would be better
than one? I am persuaded in my own mind that the people