ciated. The Pope accordingly appointed the Reverend John Carroll, of Maryland, to the high office of Apostolic-Vicar. At about the same time, the Church of England in the United States sought a re-organization. In compliance with the wishes of the Churchmen of Connecticut, the Reverend Samuel Seabury went to England in 1784, to obtain ordination as bishop. The English bishops hesitating to act in consequence of the refusal of Seabury to take the oath of allegiance to the king of England as head of the Church, he obtained ordination by Scotch bishops at Aberdeen.2 William White Three years later, the Reverend William White, who had been elected bishop of the diocese of Pennsylvania, was consecrated, (with Bishop Provoost, of New York,) by the Archbishop of Canterbury; and a few years later, the independent " Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America," was established. Such was the commencement of two of the most prominent prelatical Churches in this country. The Methodist Church, which has since flourished so wonderfully, was then just taking firm root. 1 John Carroll was a native of Maryland. He was ordained to the ministry in the Roman Catholic Church in 1769; was consecrated a bishop in 1790, and made archbishop in 1808. 2 Samuel Seabury was a native of Connecticut. He entered the ministry in 1758, and became the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in this country, in 1784. 3 William White entered the ministry by ordination in London, in 1770; and at one time he was chaplain to the Continental Congress. He was consecrated a bishop in 1787, and in 1789 he presided over the convention called to consider the organization of an American Church. He wrote the constitution of that Church; and with the assistance of Bishop Seabury, he revised the Book of Common Prayer, so as to adapt it to the new order of things. For a long time it had been clearly perceived that, while the Articles of Confederation formed a sufficient constitution of government during the progress of the war, they were not adapted to the public wants in the new condition of an independent sovereignty in which the people found themselves. There appeared a necessity for a greater centralization of power by which the general government could act more efficiently for the public good. To a great extent, the people lost all regard for the authority of Congress, and the commercial affairs of the country became wretchedly deranged. In truth, every thing seemed to be tending toward utter chaos, soon after the peace in 1783,' and the leading minds engaged in the struggle for Independence, in view of the increasing and magnified evils, and the glaring defects of the Articles of Confederation, were turned to the consideration of a plan for a closer union of the States, and for a general government founded on the principles of the Declaration of Independence, from which the confederation in question widely departed. The sagacious mind of Washington early perceived, with intense anxiety, the tendency toward ruin of that fair fabric which his wisdom and prowess had helped to rear, and he took the initial step toward the adoption of measures which finally resulted in the formation of the present Constitution of the United States. At his suggestion, a convention, for the purpose of consulting on the best means of remedying the defects of the Federal Government, was held at Annapolis, in Maryland, in September, 1786. Only five States (Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York) were represented. They met on the 11th of that month, and John Dickenson' was chosen chairman. They finally appointed a committee to prepare a draft of a report to be made to the Legislatures of the several States, then represented. The committee reported on the 14th, but there not being a representation from a majority of the States, it was thought advisable to postpone further action. They adjourned, after recommending the appointment of deputies to meet in convention at Philadelphia, in May following. The report was adopted and transmitted to Congress. On the 21st of February, 1787, a committee of that body, to whom the report of the commissioners was referred, reported thereon, and strongly recommended to the different Legislatures to send forward delegates to meet in the proposed convention at Philadelphia. Propositions were made by delegates from New York and Massachusetts, and finally the following resolution, submitted by the latter, after being amended, was agreed to: "Resolved, That in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates, who shall have been appointed by the several States, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several Legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the States, render the 1 Page 348. ន Page 219. 2 Page 359. The committee consisted of Messrs. Dana, Varnum, S. M. Mitchell, Smith, Cadwalader, Irvine, N. Mitchell, Forest, Grayson, Blount, Bull, and Few. Federal Constitution adequate to the exigences of the government and the preservation of the Union." This resolution, with a preamble, was immediately transmitted to the several Speakers of State Legislatives Assemblies, and they were laid before the representatives of the people in all the States of the Confederacy. While a feeling generally prevailed, that something must be done to avert the threatened anarchy, toward which governmental operations were rapidly tending, great caution was observed in the delegation of powers to those who should be appointed members of the proposed convention.' In May, 1787,' delegates from all the States, except New Hampshire and Rhode Island,' assembled at Philadelphia, in the room where Congress was in session when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Washington, who was a delegate from Virginia, was, on motion of Robert Morris, chosen President. Able statesmen were his associates," and they entered earnestly upon their duties. They had not proceeded far, however,. before they perceived that the Articles of Confederation were so radically defective, and their powers so inadequate to meet the wants of the country, that, instead of trying to amend that old code, they went diligently to work to form a new Constitution. For some time they made but little progress. There were 1 The great question that came up before the members, at the very commencement of the session of the Convention, was, "What powers do we possess? Can the amendments to the Articles of Confederation be carried so far as to establish an entirely new system?" The day fixed for the assembling of the Convention, was the 14th of May. On that day, delegates from only half the States were present. The remainder of the delegates did not all arrive before the 25th. 3 Ignorant and unprincipled men, who were willing to liquidate public and private debts by the agency of unstable paper money, controlled the Assembly of Rhode Island, and that body refused to elect delegates to the Convention. But some of the best and most influential men in the State joined in sending a letter to the Convention, in which they expressed their cordial sympathy with the object of that national assembly, and promised their adhesion to whatever the majority might propose. The following are the names of the delegates: New Hampshire.-John Langdon, John Pickering, Nicholas Gilman, and Benjamin West. Massachusetts.-Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong. Connecticut.-William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. New York.-Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., and Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey-David Brearley, William Churchill Houston, William Paterson, John Neilson, William Livingston, Abraham Clark, and Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania.-Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Fitzsimmons, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, and Benjamin Franklin. Delaware.-George Reed, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickenson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob Brown. Maryland.-James M'Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, and Luther Martin. Virginia.-George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, Jr., George Mason, and George Wythe. Patrick Henry having declined his appointment, James M'Clure was nominated to supply his place. North Carolina.-Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Willie Jones. Richard Caswell having resigned, William Blount was appointed a deputy in his place. Willie Jones having also declined his appointment, his place was supplied by Hugh Williamson. South Carolina.-John Rutledge, Charles Pinckey, Charles C. Pinckney, and Pierce Butler. Georgia.--William Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, George Walton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton. • Page 250. The members who were most conspicuous as debaters in the Convention, were Randolph, Madison, and Mason, of Virginia; King, Gerry, and Gorham, of Massachusetts; Gouverneur Morris, Wilson, and Dr. Franklin, of Pennsylvania; Johnson, Sherman, and Ellsworth, of Connecticut; Lansing and. Hamilton, of New York; the two Pinckneys, of South Carolina; Paterson, of New Jersey; Martin, of Maryland; Dickenson, of Delaware; and Dr. Williamson, of North Carolina. |