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am sure it can be said of you that you will so conduct

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yourselves that it will be said of your work, as James

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Madison said of the work of the Convention in Philadelphia

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in 1787, wnatever may be the judgment pronounced on the

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competency of the architects of the Constitution, or whatever

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may be the destiny of the edifice prepared by them, I feel

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it a duty to express my profound and solemn conviction

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derived from my intimate opportunity of observing and

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appreciating the views of the Convention collectively and

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individually there never was an assembly of men charged

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with a greater and more arduous trust who were more pure

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in their motives or more exclusively or more anxiously

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devoted to the object committed to them to best secure

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permanent liberty and the happiness of their country.

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The rights you exercise were won in 1776 and

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have been protected in memorable struggles through the

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years. The fight for liberty, however, must be won anew

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each day and the contest for good government waged dun

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the days of peace is no less important than the battle

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waged in the neat of armed conflict.

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In a way, I envy you. I wish 1 could join you.