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The Papers of James Madison: Prefatory Note
The Papers of James Madison Prefatory Note Author:James Madison Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Saturday, June 8th. They proceeded to take it into consideration, and referred it to a Committee of the Whole, into which they immediately resolved themselves, a... more »nd passed that day and Monday the tenth, in debating the subject. It was argued by Wilson, Robert R. Livingston, E. Rutledge, Dickenson and others: That, though they were friends to the measures themselves, and saw the impossibility that we should ever again be united with Great Britain, yet they were against adopting them at this time: That the conduct we had formerly observed was wise and proper now, of deferring to take any capital step till the voice of the people drove us into it: That they were our power, and without them our declarations could not be carried into effect: That the people of the middle Colonies (Maryland) Delaware, Pennsylvania, the Jerseys and New York) were not yet ripe for bidding adieu to British connection ; but that they were fast ripening, and in a short tune would join in the general voice of America: That the resolution entered into by this House on the fifteenth of May, for suppressing the exercise of all powers derived from the Crown, had shewn, by the fennent into which it had thrown these middle Colonies, that they had not yet accommodated their minds to a separation from the mother country: That some of them had expressly forbidden their Delegates to consent to such a declaration, and others had given no instructions, and consequently no powers to give such consent: That if the Delegates of any particular Colony had no power to declare such Colony independent, certain they were, the others could not declare it for them, the Colonies being as yet perfectly independent of each other: That the Assembly of Pennsylvania was now sitting above stairs, their Convent...« less