If a General Convention were to take place for the avowed and sole purpose of revising the Constitution, it would naturally consider itself as having a greater latitude than the Congress appointed to administer and support as well as to amend the system; it would consequently give greater agitation to the public mind; an election into it would be courted by the most violent partizans [sic] on both sides [and] would no doubt contain individuals of insidious views, who under the mask of seeking alterations popular in some parts but inadmissible in other parts of the Union might have a dangerous opportunity of sapping the very foundations of the fabric. “Under all these circumstances it seems scarcely to be presumeable [sic] that the deliberations of the body could be conducted in harmony, or terminate in the general good,” he averred. “Having witnessed the difficulties and dangers experienced by the first Convention which assembled under every propitious circumstance,” Madison concluded, “I should tremble for the result of a second meeting in the present temper of America, and under all the disadvantages I have mentioned.” -- James Madison, often referred to as the “father” of the Constitution
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 06:26:23 +0000
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