September 17, 1787
Mr. President,
I confess, that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution
at present; but, Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it;
for, having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being
obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change
my opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right,
but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I grow,
the more apt I am to doubt my own judgement of others. Most men,
indeed, as well as most sects in religion, think themselves in
possession of all truth, and wherever others differ from them,
it is so far error. Steele, a Protestant, in a dedication, tells
the Pope, that the only difference between our two churches in
their opinions of the certainty of their doctrine, is, the Romish
Church is infallible, and the Church of England is never
in the wrong. But, though many private Persons think almost
as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their Sect,
few express it so naturally as a certain French Lady, who, in
a little dispute with her sister, said, "But I meet with
nobody but myself that is always in the right."
"Je ne trouve que moi qui aie toujours raison."
In these moments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution,
with all its faults, -- if they are such; because I think a general
Government necessary for us, and there is no form of
government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered;
and I believe, farther, that this is likely to be well administered
for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other
forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted
as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.
I doubt too, whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be
able to make a better Constitution; for, when you assemble a number
of men, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably
assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions,
their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish
views. From such an assembly can a perfect production
be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system
approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will
astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear,
that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of
Babel, and that our States are on the point of separation, only
to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats.
Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no
better, and because I am not sure that it is the best. The opinions
I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good.
I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these
walls they were born, and here shall they die. If every one of
us, in returning to our Constituents, were to report the objections
he has had to it, and endeavor to gain Partisans in support of
them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby
lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally
in our favour among foreign nations, as well as among ourselves,
from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and
efficiency of any government, in procuring and securing happiness
to the people, depends on opinion, on the general opinion
of the goodness of that government, as well as of the wisdom and
integrity of its governors. I hope, therefore, for our own sakes,
as a part of the people, and for the sake of our posterity, that
we shall act heartlily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution,
thoughts and endeavors to the means of having it well administered.
On the whole, Sir, I cannot help expressing a
wish, that every member of the Convention who may still have objections
to it, would with me on this occasion doubt a little of his own
infallibility, and, to make manifest our unanimity,
put his name to this Instrument.
[Then the motion was made for adding the last
formula, viz. "Done in convention by the Unanimous Consent,"
&c.; which was agreed to and added accordingly.]
From Jorgenson, page 491, by
the JMU Political Science Department. Not to be used without permission
and visible attribution.
Although we think of
James Madison as the father of the Constitution, it is the few
speeches of Benjamin Franklin that were most accurately recorded
and widely reported. This speech comes at the end of the Convention:
a cogent appeal for support of the Constitution, it should be
regarded as the beginning of the ratification process. —
Devin Bent (devin@bents.net)
